SHILLONG: In an effort to regain the past glory of Iewduh, the traditional market which is looked upon as the ‘rice plate of the people’, a cleanliness awareness programme was organised by the office of the Syiem and Dorbar Hima Mylliem at the Students’ Field in the city on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by shopkeepers of Iewduh in which Wanshan Kharkrang, Environmental Engineer at Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), enlightened them on laws, regulations and punitive actions to ensure that cleanliness is maintained at Iewduh.
The Hima Mylliem, MSPCB and the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) will collaborate in this venture for the betterment of the marketplace.
Kharkrang said, “As per law, the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board has prohibited the use and sale of plastic bags which are less than 50 microns.”
“Plastic sellers should register themselves with the board and the office of the Syiem of Hima Mylliem. Registered plastic sellers should put up their registration at the shop and customers should buy from registered plastic sellers,” he said and asked all shopkeepers to co-ordinate and co-operate.
He added that there will be regular inspections and violators will face a stiff fine of Rs 1 lakh and six-month imprisonment.
With huge piles of garbage thrown indiscriminately on certain pathways of Iewduh, which has over 2,000 shops, he pointed out that segregation of bio-degradable and non bio-degradable waste is necessary.
Meanwhile, Paiem Ricky Nelson Syiem said the aim of the meeting is to seek cooperation from the shopkeepers to crackdown on indiscriminate dumping of garbage.
Stating that indiscriminate throwing of garbage will not be tolerated, he said, “Out of the Rs 8000 fine imposed on those who throw garbage indiscriminately, the Hima will reward the person who informs about them (violators).”
When asked on the beautification of Iewduh, the official said it is the prerogative of the KHADC as Rs 52 lakh was sanctioned by it.
It may be mentioned that Rs 52 lakhs has been estimated for the construction of the three entrances. The finance has been earmarked under the special assistance scheme of 2015-16.
Last year, the media had reported that a certain amount of money from the Rs 133-crore Special Central Assistance will be used by the Council for renovation of Iewduh.
The traditional market was then inspected by Urban Affairs Minister Ronnie Lyngdoh followed by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and former governor V. Shanmuganathan.