SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister, in charge Sports and Youth Affairs, Meghalaya said that the Shillong Golf Course (SGC) is a private property and does not belong to the government but in the interest of sports and tourism, the government is keen to cooperate with The Shillong Club Ltd. (SCL), which maintains the course. “But all that would depend on the SCL and the Shillong Golfers Association seeking necessary assistance as to what action can be taken in this regard,” said Mr Lanong.
It may be mentioned that the SGC is in shambles due to the weekend picnics and the conversion of the course into a football and cricket ground by locality youths. The SGC is one of the largest golf courses in Asia and is known as “Gleneagles of the East”. The Border Security Force (BSF) has been involved in the cleaning operation of the SGC for the past three weeks under the leadership of A Asthana, Deputy Inspector General, BSF Shillong Sector.
“It is very unfortunate. People should respect the greens and refrain from messing around and misusing the course since it should not be taken as if “it belongs to us” but every person must respect it as the pride of the State and should voluntarily support its maintenance and beauty. I am not telling people, not to go there but they should go with a sense of respect and should not litter the course,” urged Lanong.
Lanong said the government cannot do anything if the people don’t have that sense of ownership for their own assets. “We will not shy away from coming forward to help but the authority should take it up with us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rahul Bajaj, Golf Captain, SGC said that people are still coming to the course every weekend and there has not been much impact. “We are planning to make a video of the weekend activities in the course and release it in the local cable channels with few snaps to also be released in the local print media,” he said. Mr Bajaj lauded the BSF for continuously cleaning up the course with the intention of creating public awareness on the need for cleanliness on the SGC.