By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Leader of Opposition Conrad K Sangma has demanded that the State Government constitute an independent inquiry on the illegal collection which is going on at the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) Weighbridge at Wageasi in East Garo Hills.
According to Sangma, the lessee of the Weighbridge, Metill CH Momin is illegally collecting money from the trucks without getting the approval from the GHADC.
“I have been informed by the GHADC Chief Forest Officer (CFO) that the Council has not authorized the lessee to carry out the collection from the weighbridge at Wageasi as yet. The CFO though admitted that the Council has entered into an agreement with the lessee
for carrying out the collection from the trucks passing through the weighbridge,” the Leader of Opposition, who is also the member of the Assembly Committee which has been assigned to investigate the alleged illegal collection along the National Highways, said.
It has been learnt that the GHADC has not given the approval to the lessee since she is yet to pay the full amount of the security deposit.
“It has come to my knowledge that the lessee is supposed to pay a total amount of Rs 28 lakh to the Council as security deposit. But so far only Rs 20 lakh has been paid,” Sangma said while adding that the CFO had directed a letter to the lessee asking her to give reasons as to why her agreement (with the GHADC) should not be cancelled.
The letter further said that if the lessee failed to respond then the agreement would ultimately stand null and void.
While informing that he had obtained a copy of the receipt which the lessee is issuing to the trucks, Sangma said, “The receipt clearly shows the entry fee for each truck as Rs 50 however I am informed that the lessee is charging a lump sum amount of Rs 1200 from each truck.”
Apart from this, the lessee is charging Rs 75 as penalty for overloading per metric tonne instead of Rs 65 which is the GHADC rate, fixed on October last.
The leader of opposition said that he was surprised to be informed by the CFO that the Council has not issued any receipts to the lessee which implies that the latter was using fake receipts.
This denial on the part of the Council that they have not issued the receipts also proves that the collection is grossly illegal, he said.
“The sad part is that even now the illegal collection is going on,” Sangma added.