By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 23: The Meghalaya government appears to be totally clueless on relocating the hawkers and street vendors from Khyndai Lad even as the deadline for the same expires on Sunday.
The hawkers, who are protesting the move, have set up camp in Khyndai Lad in a bid to resist any attempt to evict or relocate them.
Hawkers were seen doing business till 11 pm on Saturday as a mark of protest even as most of them came prepared to camp for the night in Khyndai Lad.
Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh who has been issuing timelines after timelines to remove the hawkers and make the Khyndai Lad stretch a pedestrian zone, now seems to be shifting the entire responsibility of removing the hawkers to the Urban Affairs Department.
Lyngdoh had recently promised to relocate the hawkers by November 24.
He said the matter of relocation should be taken up with the Urban Affairs Department as the Tourism Department only wanted to give a facelift to the Khyndai Lad stretch by making it a pedestrian and tourist-friendly zone.
Denying the allegations that attempts are being made to relocate the hawkers without holding any consultations, he said multiple meetings were held and even a committee was constituted to discuss the same last year and it even had representatives of vendors and hawkers.
He also said that the process of identification of the vendors and the space for relocation was done by the Shillong Municipal Board and a meeting to discuss the same was held as recently as two weeks back.
When asked about the deadline for the hawkers which expires on Sunday, Lyngdoh said the deadline was indicated to them by Commissioner and Secretary of Urban Affairs, Vijay Kumar.
Asked what action the government will take in case the hawkers refuse to move out of Khyndai Lad, he said the government will take stock of the situation if the need arises.