SHILLONG, Oct 21: Chairman of the High Level Committee (HLC) on relocation of the Harijan Colony residents, Prestone Tynsong said the government will take possession of the 2.5-acre land once it pays Rs 2 crore as premium to the Syiem of Hima Mylliem.
After the state Cabinet had approved the HLC report on October 7, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma had announced that the government will acquire the land within a week’s time.
The government has already sanctioned Rs 2 crore as premium for the land. “Once this payment is made, the possession of the land will take place,” Tynsong, who is the Deputy Chief Minister, said on Thursday.
He said the land acquisition is not aimed at gaining any political mileage in view of the October 30 by-elections to three Assembly constituencies as alleged.
He said the government was earlier blamed for delay in acquiring the land and now, when it is ready to take action, it is being accused of trying to derive political mileage.
“We need to look beyond the October 30 by-elections. The government is dedicated to resolving this issue,” Tynsong said.
Recalling that he was with the Congress for 15 years, he said the government of those days had never initiated any measures to resolve the issue.
On the interference of politicians and groups from outside the state, Tynsong said the government understands their concerns for their community members and is following procedures as per the law.
“The residents should not be scared. During the course of preparation of the HLC report, we had directed the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) to conduct an inventory exercise. This was done because we wanted to know exactly how many people were residing there but they refused to cooperate with the government despite three attempts from our side,” Tynsong said.
“The government is not here to throw you out but find out the exact number of settlers there. Once that is done, we will be able to tell them about the solution. Their non-cooperation is very unfortunate,” Tynsong said.
The Deputy CM said the Land Transfer Act has nothing to do in the matter since the land belongs to the SMB.
He said he has thoroughly studied the subject, pointing out that the original lease agreement was signed between the Syiem of Hima Mylliem and the SMB and this proves that the land belongs to the SMB. He assured that the Cabinet will discuss the matter before taking further action.
