SHILLONG, Aug 5: The High Court of Meghalaya on Tuesday examined the report of ‘Special Officer’ Subhasis Chakrawarty on the eviction and relocation of hawkers from Shillong’s Khyndai Lad area.
Chakrawarty was appointed by the court to superintend the eviction of unlicenced vendors from Khyndai Lad and the relocation of the licenced vendors to the space provided by the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).
A division bench of Chief Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh said the report mentioned that the relocation exercise was peaceful and successful.
Earlier, the Shillong Roadside Hawkers’ Association had on two occasions written to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SMB complaining that some eligible vendors were not issued the certificates of vending.
The Special Officer, who received copies of those letters on July 29, has written to the CEO of SMB to respond to this allegation.
The advocate for SMB assured the court that a proper response in the form of an affidavit will be filed before the next hearing scheduled for August 13.
Govt to pay Rs 56 lakh incentive to hawkers
The state government will spend around Rs 56 lakh as incentive for the 282 hawkers who have been relocated from Khyndai Lad to the MUDA parking lot.
Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar and Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Tuesday distributed cheques of Rs 10,000 each to several such vendors. The money for the rest of the hawkers will be transferred to their bank accounts.
Apart from this Rs 10,000 relocation allowance, the government will also provide an additional Rs 2,000 to each hawker for the next five months.
Dhar said the government will also relocate the hawkers from other areas of the city in a phase-wise manner. “We are trying to improve things. We will give them toilet, other facilities and we will also modify other places,” he said.
Reacting to a query about a group of hawkers opposing relocation, Dhar said his officers are always ready to hold discussions with anyone. “The doors of my officers are open. Go to them and we will try to resolve the matter through discussions,” he said.
Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh said the vendors will be given the incentive through the CM relief for street vendors.
Reiterating that pedestrianisation of the stretch will take place following the successful relocation of the hawkers, he said everything pertaining to the relocation of hawkers from other areas will fall into place.
