SHILLONG, MAR 23: The Meghalaya government has deferred a final decision on relocating street hawkers from Laitumkhrah, granting the urban affairs department and the dorbar ten days to carry out a joint site inspection after talks on Monday failed to resolve key details.
Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar said the meeting — attended by East Shillong MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh and Dorbar Shnong headmen — ended with “some plus, some minus” and no concrete outcome.
“They have asked me for ten days’ time, so I have given time to take a concrete decision,” Dhar told reporters.
“There are some places we need to recheck and verify again. Within ten days there will be a joint inspection between the Urban Affairs Department and the Dorbar Shnong of Laitumkhrah, and they will submit a report. We will try to close this matter at the earliest possible.”
Dhar said officials still do not have a final tally of hawkers to be moved because “some new are coming and old are already there.” The figure will be decided next week, he added.
Once set, the relocation will require at least 30 days’ legal notice, and he expects the process to be completed “within one‑two months… as per law.”
Lyngdoh confirmed that suggestions raised by headmen were accepted. “There were a bit of glitches because roads in and around Laitumkhrah are very tight. There is already big pressure from vehicular movement, big pressure from public movement,” she said. “We need to be a little more careful when we discuss relocation on an existing road, so the Deputy CM has been very gracious to listen to the Dorbar Shnong. Hopefully things should go as proposed.”
She declined to share numbers, noting that the matter is partly sub judice: “We don’t want to infringe or get into matters which are sub judice.”
