NONGPOH: The village Durbar along with villagers of Quinine in Ri Bhoi District on Saturday has come out in the streets to condemned the fake news published by the Time8 channel from Assam.
It may be mentioned, the news video clip which has gone viral having the caption ‘Planning to visit Shillong! Be careful’ alleged that vehicles bound for Shillong are falling into a very dangerous trap as crane operators were spilling some kind of diesel or oily stuff in the National Highway to create artificial accidents.
Headman of Quinine village, Bhastar Lyngdoh while refuting the allegations, lambasted the Time8 for its lack of ethical reporting which is not based on facts but rather on rumour spread by a few individuals.
“There is no truth at all in the news video published by Time8, those who faced accidents in our village are mostly from Assam and are first timers who visited our state who does not know the conditions of the road” Lyngdoh said adding that even the police and NHAI officials have also conducted enquiry and found out that there is no such spilling of oil as alleged.
Lyngdoh further said that the Time8 channel should have properly conducted a research and visited the spot before spreading such kind of fake news which have a negative effect not just on the village in particular but the state as a whole.
Village Secretary and member, Joseph Syngkli and Lansius Syiemlieh while condemning the fake news of Time8, said that the main cause of accidents in the area is the blind curve and overspeeding and not the spilling of oil by the crane operators or youths of the village as alleged.
They also said that those who met with such accidents were mostly private vehicles from Assam who rarely visited the state and thinks that the road condition is like in the plain area of Assam. Whereas those tourist vehicle who commute daily did not faced such accidents in the village as they are aware of the sharp turns and condition of the road, the village leaders added.
Meanwhile, the village leaders also urged the drivers from Assam and other states of the country who visited the state to drive carefully while driving in hilly areas like Meghalaya as the road has sharp turning and becomes very slippery especially if it rains.
Earlier, during the protest, villagers also hold placards on the National Highway condemning the fake news published by Time8 channel from Assam.
