SHILLONG: With the Harijan Panchayat Committee refusing to accept the government’s offer for relocation from the Harijan Colony, Urban and Municipal Affairs Minister Hamlet Dohling on Monday asked the residents to cooperate with the government. “They should cooperate with the government and then only we can find a way out”, he said.
He said since the land belongs to the government, the residents should cooperate with the plan of the government.
He admitted that the Urban Affairs department had directed the respective departments, where the resi dents of Harijan Colony are employed, to issue notices for relocation.
Some residents have already received notices for relocation which should be carried out at the earliest. Besides this, notices for inventory were also issued from June 3 to the residents to submit relevant documents to the Shillong Municipal Board on or before July 3.
‘We know how to run Govt’
To a query on the frequent visit of Sikh delegations to the state to take up the cause of the Harijan Colony residents, Dohling said, “We know how to run the government, others need not tell us”
According to Dohling, who is also the member of the High Level Committee dealing with the matter, the present government is committed to resolve the matter pending for long as the previous governments could not do anything to address the issue.
Quarters to be ready soon
Dohling said the office of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB), currently functioning from Bishop Cotton Road, will soon be shifted to the building adjacent to the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority office.
He said this will facilitate the employees of SMB, who are residents of Harijan Colony, to occupy the quarters at Bishop Cotton Road.
Dohling said the number of employees of SMB currently residing at Harijan Colony is 128 whereas there are 58 employees serving in other departments.
The employees of Meghalaya Basin Development Authority at Bishop Cotton Road have been shifted to the head office at Nongrim Hills and the office is ready for the use of SMB staff.
“We are waiting for the General Administration Department to give us clearance to use the Basin Development office”, Dohling said.