SHILLONG, AUG 25: BJP leader from West Bengal, Dr Tathagata Roy was sworn in as the new Meghalaya governor on Saturday even as he emphasized on the need to encourage the use of public transport to ease the traffic congestion that is plaguing the capital of the hill state.
Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court Mohammad Yaqoob Mir administered the oath of office and secrecy to Dr Roy at the Century-old Raj Bhavan.
The swearing in ceremony was attended by the chief minister Conrad K Sangma, his cabinet colleagues and senior government officials. From the opposition Congress, only Shillong Member of Parliament (MP) Vincent H Pala was seen attending the occasion.
Roy, a former governor of Tripura replaced Ganga Prasad who has been transferred and appointed as the new governor of Sikkim.
Speaking to reporters after swearing-in ceremony, Dr Roy said that coming to Meghalaya was like a homecoming for him.
“When I received this order to move from Tripura to Meghalaya I was a little sad because I had set my mind on staying in Tripura for three years but then I was also very happy because coming to Meghalaya coming to Shillong is like homecoming,” he said.
Roy said he had spent his early childhood in Shillong and that his younger brother who is an MP now had also been born in the Ganesh Das Hospital as he added, “This city I know it like the back of my hand all the way from Garikhana to Happy Valley.”
Stating that looks of the city has changed alot, Roy lamented when he said, “When we were children there were no traffic jams and the buildings were all Assam-type buildings and none of these monstrosities that have grown up now.”
The newly sworn in governor said that he would like to address this matter of architecture of Shillong.
Asked how he would address the problem, Dr Roy said that to his mind, Shillong the topography is such that you cannot have widening of roads to a very large extent you cannot also have fly overs and such like things to a very large extent.
“What can be done under the circumstances is as far as I can see emphasis on public transport rather than private transport,” he asserted while pointing out that he have been associated personally with the problem of traffic and had worked with the Kolkata Metro project for closed to 18 years.
“If good public transport is arranged then the road occupancy will be much less and private transport must be discouraged in what way that is for the elected government to decide but these are generally some ideas that I have toy with different point of times whenever I have notice traffic problem in Shillong,” Dr Roy added.
Meanwhile, the governor said that but inspite of everything Shillong is Shillong and he loves it. “… I have a closed attachment to this place and I am very happy to come here,” he stated.
By Our Reporter
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