Move aimed to ease congestion, bring devp, asserts cabinet minister
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 11: Amid opposition from certain quarters on the relocation of the petrol pump from Anjali Point to Sanmer, cabinet minister AL Hek has made it clear that there should not be opposition to the move as it is aimed at development.
The reaction from Hek comes in the wake of FKJGP Upper Shillong Circle opposing the move to relocate the petrol pump at Anjalee Point to the land of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department.
The members of the FKJGP had also called on Hek in this regard and aired their discontent.
However, the cabinet minister on Saturday reasoned that the streets of Shillong are grappling with the problem of congestion and traffic snarls.
He maintained that to try and make efforts to decongest the streets of Shillong has become the need of the hour.
Maintaining that Anjali Point is one such area in the state capital that is bedevilled by traffic snarls, the cabinet minister said that the Urban Affairs Department had requested for a plot of land at Sanmer from the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department to relocate the petrol pump in question, which, Hek continued, was part of the smart city project to ease the traffic congestion.
“The government is doing this for the welfare of the public, and there should be no opposition to such developments,” he said.
It is pertinent to note that the opposing groups had argued that the land belonging to the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department at Upper Shillong is meant specifically for development of dairy and other farming activities for the long-term benefits of the state.
They had also contended that allotment of land for establishment of a private petrol pump will defeat the very purpose for which the land was meant to be utilised by the concerned department.
The groups had also stated that they have no objection if the petrol pump is shifted to any other location but within any government property.
