A resident of Laitumkhrah has flagged the issue of supposed illegal construction at the quarters of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) at Goraline in the city.
According to residents of the area, they have been trying to draw the attention of the authorities to the unauthorised constructions that have been going on but to no avail.
Wankitbok Pohshna, a resident of Laitumkhrah, informed that a petition was also sent to the then Urban Affairs Minister and local MLA, Ampareen Lyngdoh, in 2011 on the unchecked mushrooming of the slum in the heart of the city, but no concrete steps were taken to address the issue.
Pohshna informed that after he had complained of illegal construction in the SMB Colony, in January this year the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) conducted a site inspection and it was found out that illegal constructions were going on.
Therefore, MUDA wrote to the SMB stating that no permission was sought or granted by the former.
“Therefore, all the ongoing constructions are termed as unauthorised constructions,” MUDA informed the SMB in a letter in February.
That month Pohshna had also filed a Right to Information (RTI) request with the SMB, to find out if the board was carrying out any construction work in the colony.
In reply, the SMB stated that it was not building any concrete structures there but it had issued demolition orders to a few settlers. However, he claimed that no action has actually been taken on the ground.
“This has angered many residents of Laitumkhrah who have to apply for building permission from MUDA when it comes to home construction while it is just the opposite for the government compound in their vicinity,” he said.
He also said that the colony is situated by the side of the Thangsning stream, which is a tributary of the Wahumkhrah River, and there is rampant dumping of garbage from the colony which goes unchecked.
“Unless authorities stop the illegal construction at Goralane or unless the present state government step up plans to decongest the slum, the issues faced by the residents of Laitumkhrah will persist and if goes unchecked will lead to stressed like situations in the near future,” Pohshna added.
