NCP writes to Parrikar on Lawsohtun land grab

SHILLONG: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has written to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on encroachment of land in Lawsohtun.
NCP president Sanbor Shullai, in the letter, said Lawsohtun falls under the Meghalaya Protection of Catchment Area Act, 1990, but the defense authorities are denying the source of stream originating from Lawsohtun.
The defence establishment in Shillong has also started constructing fences, which is against the erstwhile Gauhati High Court judgment of February 23, 2007.
“The judgment had directed the Catchment Areas Advisory Board to decide within 60 days from the date of the judgment whether Lawsohtun should be declared as a catchment area,” Shullai said.  Shullai and the locals had objected to the defence authorities’ move to construct a fence in 2013 and asked for documents as prove that the land belonged to the defence establishment. But no papers were produced till date, Shullai said.
He mentioned that Lawsohtun is primarily a forest area managed by the Dorbar Shnong and that the land is a community property as is the system prevalent in the State.