SHILLONG: In a new twist, the hawkers who are running their second-hand clothes stalls on the dilapidated Motphran overbridge, on Wednesday backtracked from their earlier assurance and refused to shift to the Urban Affairs Parking Lot at Khlieh Iewduh near Cantonment area.
While admitting that they were illegally operating their businesses at the overbridge, the hawkers under the umbrella of Synjuk ki Nongdie Jain Jingkieng Motphran (SKNJJM) said that the time allotted by the State Government to them to shift their businesses was too short.
“We strongly feel that the Government should have given us sufficient time to shift to the new place. Besides, we have refused to shift to the Urban Affairs Parking Lot since the place is unsafe for women,” SKNJJM general secretary Eric Nongbet said during a press conference here.
The hawkers had been given time till Friday to shift their stalls from the Motphran overbridge, which has been declared unsafe.
Nongbet stated that the hawkers had started their business on the overbridge in 1978 and had never paid any tax to the government.
Nongbet also urged the concerned authorities to re-examine the safety of the bridge.
Earlier, the hawkers operating their business on the Motphran overbridge had agreed to relocate their business to the Urban Affairs Parking Lot at Khlieh Iewduh near Cantonment area.
The mutual understanding was reached when a delegation of the hawkers met Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh in the presence of local legislator and Home Minister Roshan Warjri on September 3.
Though initially refusing to vacate the overbridge, the hawkers finally relented after the District Disaster Management Authority declared the Motphran overbridge as unsafe and the district administration imposed Section 144 CrPC closing the ages-old overbridge for both pedestrians and hawkers.