SHILLONG, July 29: A PIL in the High Court of Meghalaya challenging the felling of trees in the Lawsohtun area has hindered the Shillong Ropeway Project.
A state-level committee recently submitted to the high court that a large number of trees were lopped off in the Lawsohtun area of East Khasi Hills district to facilitate the construction of the Shillong Peak Ropeway Cable Car Project at Raid Laban Reserve Forest and Raid Laban Forest by the Tourism Department.
Reacting to the court’s observations on the matter, Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh said that the government has briefed the court about the necessary clearances, including permission for felling trees in the Lawsohtun area.
“The project has been hindered by this PIL, but today, since we have clarified to the high court that we have already obtained permission from the Environment Ministry. Therefore, work should pick up pace,” he said.
Earlier, Lyngdoh said that the project could not have been initiated on the ground without obtaining all necessary permissions, and the issue of felling trees came up as a part of the clearance sought from the Environment Ministry, which was obtained by the state government before the work started.
“We have briefed the high court about this clearance obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, and whatever has been done so far complies with all existing laws and regulations,” he said.
Lyngdoh stated that afforestation will take place once the project is completed, and the current focus is on facilitating clearance for the construction of the ropeway.
An individual had filed the public interest litigation in the high court, alleging indiscriminate and large-scale felling of trees in the Lawsohtun area.
By its June 24 order, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh expressed deep concern over the petitioner’s allegation. The bench perused a June 20 report of the state government, which was filed pursuant to an earlier order of the court.
The court constituted the state-level committee to supervise how forest officials deal with applications filed by individuals for felling or part-felling of branches of trees likely to cause danger to life or property or both.
While dealing with the report, the court directed the committee to be more proactive instead of delegating the work to subordinate forest officers.
