Meghalaya Government and Harijan Panchayat Committee to Convene Final Meeting on Relocation Modalities

SHILLONG: The government of Meghalaya and the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) plan to hold a key meeting on May 7th. This meeting signifies a substantial advance in efforts to resolve the ongoing issue of relocation. Its purpose is to decide on the details for moving residents of Them Iew Mawlong to a new site.

Sources with knowledge of the situation provided some insight. They revealed that the State government's representative will be Urban Affairs Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar. The Minister will be accompanied by senior officials. These officials will be from the Urban Affairs Department and the Shillong Municipal Board.

The HPC delegation will also be present at the meeting. It will be headed by its secretary, Gurjit Singh.The central focus of the meeting's agenda is the plan formulated by the State government for moving residents. This plan involves the relocation of 342 families from Them Iew Mawlong. They are to be moved to a specified area. This area is controlled by the Shillong Municipal Board, located on Bivar Road.

The government has shown commitment to this cause already. They are providing 2.14 acres of land for this purpose. The land is located within the existing property of the Municipal Board. In addition to this, the government has set aside another piece of land.

It's an additional 1.4 acres located opposite the Municipal Board's building. By doing so, the total proposed area for moving reaches 3.6 acres. This plan was put in place after the government rebuked a previous proposition from the HPC. In their earlier proposal, the HPC suggested allotting 200 square meters of land to each family. These families were to be placed within the European Ward.

In addition to this, the government was supposed to take responsibility for building their homes. This proved to be a contentious point leading to the rejection of the HPC's proposal.

The initial steps for this relocation project were taken in October 2021. During this time, the State government acquired 12,444.13 square meters of land at Sweepers’ Colony. A one-time payment of Rs 2 crore was made to the Hima Mylliem. This acquisition occurred through a tripartite lease deed. This deed was signed in March 2021, involving the government of Meghalaya, the Syiem of Hima Mylliem and the Shillong Municipal Board.

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