Meghalaya HC Orders Govt to Solve Harijan Colony Problem by April

SHILLONG: The 342 families of Harijan Colony from Them Lew Mawlong in Shillong must be relocated, and the Meghalaya High Court has ordered the state administration to handle this issue by the end of April.

The parties have been ordered by the court to come to an agreement so that, if any reallocation is necessary, it can happen in the next two to three months. The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) had until April 10 to respond to the proposal for moving the families to the existing Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) land. 

Sniawbhalang Dhar, the deputy chief minister, had earlier disclosed that the department had rejected the HPC's request for an additional three months to react to the government's proposal. The state government decided to build multi-story flats at the current official quarters of the SMB for the relocation of the 342 families and presented the concept to the HPC at a meeting in September 2022.

An earlier proposal by the HPC to set aside 200 square meters of land for each of the 342 families in the European ward and to pay for the building of their homes had been rejected by the government.

The case's subsequent hearing is scheduled for April 24.

Residents of the Harijan Colony have been under pressure since a dispute between a Sikh woman and a Khasi tribal bus driver over the bus' allegedly difficult parking in the colony escalated into a racial altercation in May 2018. That ultimately resulted in a plan to evict the occupants.

Personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are still stationed at the entry and exit points of the 12,444.13-square-meter colony, which consists of rows of hovels flanking a road and is located next to Barabazar, Meghalaya's main commercial district.

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