SHILLONG, July 28: In a bid to make Police Bazar commercial area pedestrian-friendly, the state government is looking to shift the hawkers from the stretch by October this year.
It is pertinent to note that the commercial area is overrun by hawkers which makes it difficult for people to walk as even vehicles are allowed to ply on the stretch of road inside Police Bazar.
In this regard, Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Friday said that department is making decent progress insofar as its plans to turn the stretch into a pedestrian zone are concerned.
“However, the only bottleneck is the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) identifying sites to accommodate registered vendors, not more than 100 in numbers, to alternative sites,” the minister said, while adding that the state government will have to conform to the central Street Vendors Act and the process is expected to be completed by October this year.
He said that the matter is not about chasing the hawkers away. They have to be rehabilitated or else they would go to court and everything will get stuck, the minister explained.
Meanwhile, the Tourism minister revealed that Meghalaya will become the second state only after Rajasthan to host the Indian Responsible Tourism State Awards, for which the state is collaborating with Outlook magazine.
According to him, the government will identify certain categories where people promoting tourism will be selected for awards as a mark of recognition of their roles in fostering tourism in the state.
A national-level jury will be constituted to identify the individuals and then state will recommend the names of the awards.
The awards will be presented on World Tourism Day on September 27.
