Govt to Take Possession of Harijan Colony Land After Paying 2 Crore Premium to Hima Mylliem; Meghalaya
Following the approval of the HLC report by the state Cabinet on October 7, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma stated that the government would acquire the land within a week.
However, Prestone Tynsong, Chairman of the High-Level Committee (HLC) on the Relocation of Harijan Colony Residents, said the government will take control of the 2.5-acre land once it pays Rs 2 crore as a premium to the Syiem of Hima Mylliem.
For the land, the government has already approved a price of Rs 2 crore. On Thursday, Tynsong, the Deputy Chief Minister, declared, “Once this payment is done, the land will be possessed.”
He denied that the land acquisition is being done for political gain in the run-up to the October 30 by-elections in three Assembly constituencies.
He claimed that the government had previously been blamed for the delay in acquiring the land and that now that it is ready to act, it is being accused of attempting to gain political mileage.
Tynsong said the administration respects politicians’ and outside groups’ worries for community people and is following the law’s processes.
Fear should not be felt by the residents. We asked the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) to perform an inventory exercise during the production of the HLC report. “We wanted to know exactly how many people lived there, but they refused to cooperate with the authorities despite our three attempts,” Tynsong explained.
The administration has consistently told inhabitants of the Harijan colony that they will be relocated to other locations and that they need not be concerned.
