By Naba Bhattacharjee
In the mid nineties, when I inquired from (Late) Dr. F.A. Khonglam, Minister Revenue then, regarding the Shillong bypass and the new township, the reply in his usual curt manner was “Time is not ripe yet”. The topic ended there. For a man economical with words and no pretensions of wearing the mask of a “hermit” like others of his ilk, the answer was loaded. But I decided not to delve further. A decade later when he was the Chief Minister, I again persisted with the same query, since the situation remained unchanged. This time the reply was more forthright like his usual self. “It is almost ripe now”. He looked up from the file and added with a wry smile, “You see … a handful of our people bought land in that area years back at one rupee per sq foot or less”. “And since then have ensured that survey and alignment passes through part of those holdings”. He continued on a note of one who was about to solve a jigsaw puzzle. “As their land value soared …, each holding turned out to be like milch cattle yielding unlimited amounts of milk,” Khonglam then supplementing his wise words with a tenor of pride, “Who says our people don’t know business”?
I sensed he really meant business this time! I was beginning to understand the mystery. “They want the value to go up by hundred times; but is it fair?” Not fair at all to the poor original owners. As if reading my thoughts he asked, “Thus far have you offered even a single fruit to the person from whom you purchased the sapling of your fruit bearing tree?” “No”, he asserted, before I could reply. “Yet I have offered more than hundred percent enhancement” he added with magnanimity. “But I also know how to make them share the fruits equally, if their greed is beyond tolerance”. With this he took out a folder and threw it on the table in front of me, “… documents of many farmers who sold their land at a pittance .. can be made public”. A full smile adorned his countenance like the sun emerging through the clouds in the monsoon skyline of Shillong. I knew that being an accomplished chess player, Dr. Khonglam has cornered the King and Queen of the “square metre”, while the poor pawns are off the board. It required no arithmetical brain to conclude in how many parts the fruits shall be distributed after the check-mate. His priority and dream was to see that the Shillong by-pass became operational during his tenure – fruit or no fruits. Alas! He did not live long enough to ride over this much-awaited smooth and slick by-pass an engineering marvel of sorts for a state used to pot-holes and annual road repairs, courtesy our wise local engineers and road builders of the Public Works Department.