‘Illegal settlers’ at Shillong’s Punjabi Lane: Panel report submitted to CM

Shillong: A high-level committee set up to find a permanent solution to the issue of illegal settlers at the Punjabi Lane locality of Shillong submitted its report to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday, an official said.

The panel headed by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong submitted the report three years after its constitution and has made its recommendations on the issue of relocation of the Harijan Colony.

“The next step will now be for the Cabinet to sit and study the report to know the next steps. The report has been submitted the CM and he will also go through the report,” said Tynsong.

Punjabi Lane under Iew Duh area of the Meghalaya capital is inhabited by people from Punjab, who were brought to Shillong around 200 years ago by the British to engage them in sanitary works. In May 2018, a scuffle broke out between a Sikh woman and a local tribal resident, resulting in unrest and clashes in Shillong. Security forces were rushed to the area and several affected pockets were put under curfew for over a month.

Following the clashes, the Shillong Municipal Board had started an exercise to determine the legal residents of Punjabi Lane. There was a demand from various quarters to relocate the ethnic Punjabis from the area.

Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and other members of the high-level committee submitted the extensive report to the chief minister at his office chamber on Tuesday. The main role of the HLC was to come up with recommendations on the relocation of the people residing at Them-Iew Mawlong.

Three other ministers are members of the committee.

Also read: Boxing great Manny Pacquiao announces retirement