A public hearing scheduled tomorrow at Nonghali is expected to draw strong opposition from certain quarters over fears that it will lead to a new garbage dump in the area.
According to a source, the public hearing is meant for a proposed Urban Affairs Department landfill that will replace the one at Marten, which is rapidly running out of space to deal with Shillong’s mountains of waste.
“We don’t know what will exactly happen tomorrow in the public hearing at Nonghali but strong opposition from some of the villagers is expected,” the source told this reporter.
Informing that this will be the first public hearing, the source said that around 200-300 acres of land are expected to be acquired by the concerned department for the purpose.
However, the landfill is just one of two proposed options for the space, the other being that it will be used for the proposed new greenfield airport to replace that at Umroi.
However, some of those who are wary of the government move said that they vehemently oppose any proposal that will bring destruction and sickness to the village.
“There are about 45 of us who have signed up to a petition to voice our disagreement with this kind of proposal and tomorrow we will oppose this public hearing,” the villager said.
