Quarters for SMB workers not utilised

SHILLONG: The temporary office of the Shillong Municipal Board at Bishop Cotton Road and its premises have many quarters built for the board employees residing at Mawlonghat and Sweepers’ Lane, but they were not utilised by the residents.
While an SMB official said the residents of Punjabi Lane (Them Iew Mawlong) did not want to stay there, Gurjeet Singh, the secretary of Harijan Panchayat Committee and president of Gurdwara committee, said the quarters were never allotted to the residents of Punjabi Lane.
“Where is the allotment order? We have not received any direction,” Singh said.
An official with the Shillong Municipal Board said that currently, only some employees of the Board are residing on the premises.
It was in 2003-04 that the quarters at Bishop Cotton Road were constructed.
Later, SMB was temporarily shifted from Jail Road to Bishop Cotton Road after the area was allotted to construct a five-star hotel.
Though there are suggestions from some quarters to shift the families from the Punjabi Lane to the quarters at Bishop Cotton Road, many of the quarters are in a dilapidated condition and moreover, they will not be able to accommodate the 350-odd families residing at Punjabi Lane.