Court disposes of PIL on Umiam cleanliness
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Feb 26: The High Court of Meghalaya on Monday finally disposed of a PIL pertaining to the cleanliness of Umiam Lake with a slew of directives to the state government. The court asked the government to initiate departmental action against those officials who are not adhering to the guidelines.
The court noted that the government has issued a corrected notification with regards to cleanliness and preservation of waterbodies and submitted a copy to the court on February 13, 2024.
On Monday, the respondent submitted that the notification dated February 13 can be taken on record and the PIL may be closed.
Accordingly, the court disposed of the PIL filed in 2019 and issued a set of guidelines foremost among them being that if any public property is identified / retrieved on the orders and intervention of the court, a permanent steel display board with bar code & case number must be displayed at vantage points at the said site.
It also stated that hawking and parking must not be allowed at such regained public sites and no permission should be given to use the site as auto/ taxi stand.
The court further stated that no one has the right to put up temporary or permanent structures either in the site or on pavements / footpaths, if any, without any permission of the concerned authorities. If there is any unauthorised construction, the authorities must take rapid action to dismantle the same.
“If there is any failure on the part of the officials, who are responsible to follow these guidelines, departmental action can be initiated against them and their dereliction can be entered in their Service Registers so as to deprive their promotion,” the court ordered.