Shillong: DC East Khasi Hills, PS Dkhar on Thursday called a meeting of various stakeholders to discuss way and means to maintain the cleanliness and order at the Umiam Lake Viewpoint along the Shillong- Umiam road. They included NGOs like Pla-Iew, the Dorbar Shnong of Mawiong Rim, Mawlai, Director Tourism, an official from the PWD, SP Traffic, East Khasi Hills, NK Syiem and the owners of retail car outlets along the highway viz Toyota, Ford and Mahindra.
Considering that cars parked at the viewpoint did so haphazardly, a joint decision was taken that parking fees would be charged so that the revenue earned would go towards maintaining the cleanliness of the space apart from regulating the way cars are parked. These days it is common to see cars parked on both sides of the Viewpoint thereby creating problems for passing vehicles.
Mr PS Dkhar called upon the Dorbar Shnong of Mawiong Rim to take up the maintenance of the place with the same responsibility shown by the Seng Samla San Shnong at the Mattilang Park and Elephant Falls and other tourist spots.
Mr Dkhar said that he was ready to cooperate with the Dorbar Shnong in terms of meeting some of their needs such as a well maintained pay toilet at a feasible spot.
A suggestion was made to the Tourism Department to set up an Information kiosk at the point since that point is the gateway to Shillong. It was also felt that an outlet for sale of souvenirs etc would be welcomed by tourists.
As of now there is no clear mandate for running the Viewpoint. It has become a free for all where anyone can set up shop without the corresponding onus of clearing and disposing the garbage generated from the shops. This has turned the Viewpoint into an eyesore. Representatives of the Dorbar Mawiong Rim have said they would henceforth work in close collaboration with DC East Khasi Hills to ensure that the place was well maintained.
PWD has been asked to look at the possibility of creating additional parking space along the Viewpoint. IT was decided to conduct a joint inspection of the spot on Saturday to assess the possibilities of making the Viewpoint a worthwhile place to stop by.
