Editor,
This has a reference to the matter published in the ‘Letters to the editor’ column on July 26, 2022 under the caption ” Whither All Saints Church Property,” written by a person whose name was withheld on request. The North East lndia Diocesan Trust Association (NEIDTA) in whose name the properties are registered with the Revenue Department would like to clarify that there is no such move to demolish/alter or to construct any commercial building in the said land where the Cathedral stands as is evident from the letters of NEIDTA dt. February 18, 2022 issued to the Shillong Pastorate etc. Adding the words “Religious, institutional and Commercial” was done to safeguard the Church, Hall and institutions situated on that plot. Maligning the name of our organisation, the Church and the Clergy and creating fear and confusion on mere speculation and hearsay without verification of facts is viewed seriously by the Church Authority. Therefore, individuals or others, are hereby cautioned not to spread such rumours without knowing the actual facts.
Yours etc.,
Biswajit Borkakoty,
Secretary, NEIDTA.
Bishop’s Kuty,
Shillong-1
Insensitive Defence Authority
Editor,
Reference is made to your front-page news items under the heading ‘Cantonment Board conduct eviction drive in Jhalupara’ (ST dated July 19, 2022). For three days two JCBs which were pressed into service completely demolishing some fifty dwellings and about thirty shops until they were reduced to rubble. The dwellers in those make-shift huts belong to the poorest of the poor class. The sight of the razing of those huts and shops was heart-wrenching. For three days there was a huge crowd of onlookers on the roadside along with police and uniformed defence personnel.
As reported in your paper, this move of the Shillong Cantonment Board (SBC) was indeed a surprise and there was no prior notice to those affected individuals. A day or two days prior to such a demolition drive, an announcement should have been made through the existing PA system, which would have surely lessened their woes. What was the alarming emergency which led the SCB to take such a harsh step? It was highly unfair to punish the settlers numbering more than fifty poor families on the mere suspicion that they were drug peddlers and the unverified allegation that the site was turning into a criminal den. In fact, most of the male members of those families were casual workers and porters and the female members were domestic workers. Some dwellers have been there since the nineties after their relief camps were dismantled. They were displaced people of the 1987 riots. The then DC had allowed them to take construction materials (CGI Sheets planks etc.) after dismantling their shelter in the relief camps. It may be pertinent to ask the SCB why they allowed the growth of the said colony of slums for these many years? Why did not they have their land records intact and create boundary walls/fencing? Why is the SCB so insensitive to the problems faced by those displaced people whose shelters have been razed to the ground without any notice?
I am aware that by writing this letter at this belated stage I am not providing any succour to those distressed families; rather I am rekindling their wounds. What I would like to bring to the notice of the SCB is that four or five of those displaced families are still there at the demolition site by the side of the main road under plastic/polythene-covered tents, braving the prevailing incessant rainfall and inclement weather condition for the past one week. Perhaps they have nowhere to go. Before any casualty arises to these families the SCB may like to resettle them temporarily. Lastly, the neighbourhood of this part of Shillong city is very much thankful to the Ardendhu Chaudhuri Charitable Trust for continuously providing mid-day meals at a very nominal charge of Rs 5 for the subsistence of these unfortunate families.
Yours etc.
Krishna Chettri
Shillong -2
Locality beautification project gone wrong
Editor,
It is a sad state of affairs that the much-vaunted initiative of the Tourism Department — Locality Beautification and Enhancement Competition — has failed miserably, all thanks to the Trinamool Congress and its unwelcome publicity by flaunting the image of its President and local state leaders in every conceivable space around the city, thereby wasting the funds allocated by the government to beautify the city.
The Government recently launched Phase-II of the beautification project on June15, 2022 at the office of the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills. It was also revealed that prizes worth Rs 10 lakh would be given to the best localities, with additional awards given to the best artists and innovations based on various criteria such as aesthetics, cleanliness, public amenities, community market area, safety and security, and sustainability. We question the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills as to who will be awarded here if most of the walls are occupied by banners/posters hung/pasted with the face of Mamata Banerjee and the State’s own leaders like Charles Pyngrope and Mukul Sangma. According to reports, 23 localities have applied for various types of work under Phase II of the program, such as painting and cleaning, wall art, signage installation, and so on. What is meant by “painting”? Is it an artistic painting or TMC’s banner painting? What is meant by “wall art”? Artistic wall art or TMC’s trademark wall art? What exactly is signage installation? Did they mean installation of TMC’s logo? We are interested to know if the TMC had approached the Rangbah Shnong or community leaders before they hung or pasted their banners on the walls of private or government properties, especially in and around the West Shillong Constituency. How much has the Dorbar Shnong of the localities of the said constituency received from the advertisements put up by the TMC? Advertisements put up in public places come with a hefty fee. Who did the TMC publicity team pay the money to? Did they pay the Dorbar Shnong or the Government? Is the Tourism Department or the Urban Affairs Department aware that most of the walls that were white-washed and refined before the 21st of January this year are now being used by the TMC for pasting their banners? Isn’t this a waste of funds for the Tourism Department? How low can the publicity wing of the TMC go? Are there no other ways to publicise their presence in the state? The office of the Deputy Commissioner needs to take action against this reckless behaviour of this political party. To refresh your memory, the Tourism Department had approved Rs 2 crore in the first phase for the beautification of localities in and around Shillong City.
Yours etc.,
Emidao Shylla,
Via email