The residents of Umladoh village in Ri-Bhoi have expressed serious concerns over an incident involving Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) officials at Lailad beat house.
It is alleged that the KHADC personnel there destroyed various crops and plantations belonging to local farmers, including bananas, pineapples, betel nuts and oranges for reasons that remain unclear.
Reports indicate that the KHADC, without prior notification to village leaders or residents, destroyed these crops. This action has caused significant distress and hardship to the affected families, particularly to five households dependent on agriculture.
In interviews with the media, the affected farmers expressed profound sorrow and frustration over the destruction of their crops, which they had nurtured for years. They criticised the KHADC for failing to inform them or the village leaders before taking such drastic measures.
Wet Syngkli, headman of Umladoh, condemned the KHADC’s actions, describing them as detrimental to the livelihoods of the village’s farming families. “The Dorbar Shnong Umladoh strongly condemns this act of violence by the KHADC, which appears to be an unjust seizure from the village’s poor farming families,” Syngkli stated. He called for an investigation into the incident and urged the competent authorities to deliver justice for the affected families.
Syngkli further explained that on July 1, officers from the Forest Department of the KHADC instructed villagers to remove plants from areas within the department’s boundaries. However, just two days later, on July 3, these officers proceeded to destroy the villagers’ crops.
