By Our Reporter
Shillong: The KSU Mawryngkneng Circle served a one-week deadline to the State Government to resolve the problems faced by the affected farmers of Mawryngkneng and adjoining villages due to the illegal dumping of soil on the paddy fields by the workers of GR Infra Company.
Staging a hunger strike at the parking lot of Additional Secretariat here on Tuesday, President KSU Mawryngkneng Wallambok Kharsati said that the failure of the government to meet the deadline will compel the Union to resort to other form of agitation.
“If the government fails to respond within the given stipulated time, then we will be forced to even stall the on-going construction of the Two-Lane Shillong Bye-Pass via Mawryngkneng”, Kharsati said.
The KSU along with the affected farmers of the three villages of East Khasi Hills viz. Diengpasoh, Thangshalai and Mawryngkneng have been continuously demanding the district administration as well as the state government to pay the compensation to the affected families, suffering for the past one year as their paddy fields are no longer suitable for cultivation due to illegal dumping of soil by the GR Infra Company.
Stating that the strike is just the first step to get the government’s attention, Kharsati said the company has flouted many rules of the Ministry of Environment. It may be mentioned that the clearance certificate for the project was received by the state government on March 13, 2007.When asked about the reports of the survey ordered by the then Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills J Lyngdoh, Kharsati said “The assessment was not conducted from Ground Zero.”
It may be mentioned that the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills Sanjay Goyal had on Monday pointed out the inability of the district administration to tackle this problem stating that “The matter has to be discussed and taken up by the state government.”
