SHILLONG: Urban Affairs minister Hamletson Dohling has proposed changing the name of a locality in the city from Nongmali Nehru Colony of Ward No XI to Nongmali Mawdatbaki Mawlai under North Shillong constituency.
Dohling also took up the matter with East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner after which the matter has been referred to the Director of Census Operations, Government of India for necessary action.
Speaking to media persons here on Wednesday, Dohling said that he took up the matter following request from the people of Mawlai Mawdatbaki as the name Nongmali Nehru Colony of Ward No XI was left unchanged since British time.
This has created a lot of problem to the people of the area especially while applying for passport and others as the residential proof in the EPIC and the one given by them does not match, Dohling added.
Meanwhile, Dohling also informed that the government would soon review the New Shillong Township (NST), a project which aims to de-congest Shillong city.
It may be mentioned here that most of the land which were acquired in the NST have been allotted to different departments and agencies.
Different structures like IIM Shillong, NIFT, Meghalaya Assembly, Information Technology park, Urban park, Shillong International Centre for Performing Arts and Culture, Government Guest Houses of Nagaland and Mizoram, Reid Chest Hospital, Hindi institute, English and Foreign Language University are lined up to be developed in the new township area.
Responding to a query, Dohling informed that institutes like the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Shillong and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong have started their construction works.
He, however, said the government would soon intimate to those who have taken the land but have not started utilizing the same to know whether they were still interested or not.
VISIT TO KERALA: A State Government team led by the Urban Affairs Minister Hamletson Dohling will visit Kerala’s Alappuzha next week to study the waste management programme adopted by the city, which has been rated as the cleanest town in India.
“The objective of the visit is to study the technique of waste management adopted by the city and we will also interact with the municipal corporation of Kerala on the subject and see whether it can be implemented in Shillong,” he said.
The minister also said that the government was very much concerned about Shillong and its cleanliness especially with National Games which is going to be held in the state in 2022.
Alappuzha city in Kerala is being recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) amongst five cities in the world that are working towards curbing pollution through their sustainable solid waste management practices.
In 2016, the Centre for Science and Environment had rated Alappuzha, which is considered to be the oldest planned city, as the top cleanest town in India followed by Mysuru and Panaji.