It’s status quo at Umsawli: Ampareen
SHILLONG: The State government has decided to maintain status quo at Umsawli, where the New Shillong Township will come up, even as affected families have refused to accept the government offer to relocate them in Nongmynsong.
Announcing this here on Friday, Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh suggested the affected families to approach the civil court to decide on the ownership of the land.
While maintaining of status quo, Lyngdoh said that the affected families should not take any kind of activities in the land and the government too will not conduct any eviction drive until the matter is resolved by the court of law.
According to Lyngdoh, when the court dismissed their case in 2010 the families did not contest. “And as per the documents available with the deputy commissioner the five families were not in the notified list of land owners,” she said after her meeting with a delegation of the Synjuk Ki Nongsynshar Shilliang Umkhen along with the affected families here on Friday.
She, however, admitted that there had been lapses on the part of government machinery as well as the landowners when the land was acquired 23 years ago.
“We have learnt from the past mistakes and therefore this time we have decided to have a land acquiring committee,” she said.
She also informed that the affected families declined to accept the government’s offer to relocate them at the dwellings for the urban poor in Nongmynsong stating that they have made their own arrangements.
Meanwhile, a member of the affected families Bokton Lyngdoh said that there is no question that they would accept the suggestion of the Urban Affairs Minister that they should not construct their houses in the same land pending the court judgement.
“We have been living here right from the time of our forefathers. We have no other place to go since the only thing which we have is this land,” Bokton said.
“We would continue our fight for justice. We know that the court would give its ruling in our favour since we are the rightful owners of the land,” he said.
When asked about the offer of the Minister to stay in the BPL housing unit at Nongmynsong as a temporary shelter, he said , “how can we accept the offer since we have our poultry, cows and pigs to take care.
Another victim Thiret Lyngdoh said that it is misleading on the part of the Urban Affairs Minister to say there are no people residing in the houses which were demolished during the eviction drive.
“A total number of six families have been rendered homeless by the Government,” she said while denying that they were given prior notice before carrying out the eviction drive.
Another victim Khron Kharkongor said that he got the land from his grandmother. “I have with me the original land documents registered with the Deputy Commissioner in 1983,” he said
Expressing concern over the impasse, the Synjuk ki Nongsynshar Shnong Shilliang Umkhen secretary Kharbuit Ryntathiang said “We have requested the Government not to carry out similar eviction drive in the future.”