Shillong, Nov 16: Landowners have written to the East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner to express their deep concern and unhappiness regarding the recent actions of the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) Rongjeng survey team related to the construction of National Highway 217 (NH-217).
While the landowners said that they “fully support” the development of the road and previously agreed to, and signed, documents for the initial GPS land markings, they feel “deeply saddened and feel cheated by the way the survey team has acted.”
The NHAI Rongjeng team has recently placed new GPS markings on the petitioners’ land, they claimed, and these were placed “without our consent and in our absence, meaning we were not informed or present to verify the process.”
Crucially, this new GPS line has crossed and encroached upon the previous land marking the landowners agreed to, the letter stated. “The survey team has now marked and taken, encroaching more of our land compared to the original, agreed-upon boundary.”
The landowners believe that this was done intentionally to take more land without compensation.
Furthermore, there is a denial of payment for small structures, which officials claim are only “temporary bamboo shops.” In reality, however, these shops are the sole source of daily income for entire families. If these structures are damaged, relocating and starting anew will be an uphill task for the poor shop owners, the DC was told.
