SHILLONG: Tathagata Roy, who grew up in the hill city, took oath as the 18th governor of the state at Raj Bhavan here on Saturday.
The Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, administered the oath of office and secrecy to Roy.
Speaking to media persons after the swearing-in ceremony, Roy, who was shifted to the state from Tripura, laid emphasis on improving state public transport here to solve the problem of road congestion.
Roy spent his childhood in Shillong and reminisced about the tranquil city back then that was dotted with Assam-type houses. Talking about the city’s transformation, he said traffic snarls were unknown during his childhood.
The new governor pointed out that Shillong’s topography would not permit widening of roads and flyovers and hence emphasis should be laid on public transport.
“With public transport, road occupancy will be much less and private transport must be discouraged,” he said.
Terming Shillong as his second home, Roy said he had close association with the city where his brother, Bengal MP Saugata Roy, was also born at Ganesh Das Hospital. Also, many of his relatives stayed here but “all have died”.
He said his last relative who stayed in Shillong was his cousin Heralal Roy, who was a professor at St Anthony’s College, but he died too.
“I knew Shillong like the back of my hand all the way from Garikhana to Happy Valley,” he added.
Earlier, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma introduced his Cabinet ministers to the newly appointed governor and during the introduction, Roy said AL Hek is his old friend.
Apart from Cabinet ministers, top officers of the armed forces, senior government officials and many BJP leaders were also present on the occasion.
Asked how he as the governor would address the traffic problem, Roy said, “It is difficult to say so early. I have been associated professionally with traffic jam because I had worked with the Calcutta metro project for close to 18 years, and I know a few things about traffic.”
