SHILLONG, MAR 8: Headmen from 60 villages in South West Khasi hills on Tuesday threatened to move court against the alleged delay of the KHADC to issue NOC for construction of two-lane road project from Nongstoin-Mawthabah.
“We would be compelled to file a petition with the court against the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) if it fails to issue the no-objection certificate (NOC) for construction of this road,” Rangblang-Laitdom general secretary, V Thyrniang told reporters on Tuesday.
He said, “We would seek the court’s intervention into the issue as it is the right of the people of the region to demand for development such as road infrastructure.”
The statement came after Thyrniang along with a delegation of 30 headmen met the KHADC chief executive member Pynshngainlang N Syiem to demand for speeding up the process of granting the NOC to pave way for the road construction.
The 68 km two lane road project from Nongstoin-Pambriew-Wahkaji-Mawthabah was sanctioned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) at a cost of Rs 485.28 crore.
It is learnt that the alignment was completed since the 1968. The construction work could not be started by the company as it has not got the NOC from the KHADC
KHADC CEM, however, assured the delegation that he would have to take up the issue with the Executive Committee (EC) for its collective decision, Thyrniang informed saying the delegation has agreed to wait till the EC sits on this regard.
Referring to the ngos who are opposing the project in the name of uranium mining, he said, “Most of them (NGOs) are not even from the region. We feel that we have more rights than them considering that we are from the region and we know what are the problems faced by our people in the absence of development.”
“It is because of the absence of good road that the region has no hospitals, no schools, no colleges and we feel that this road should also be named as a BPL road since most of the people in the region belong to below poverty line families,” he said.
He said their demand is specific to the road construction, which is the long pending aspiration of the people of the region. With the coming of this road, he said they hoped it would be a blessing for the people in all aspects including employment.
Rubbishing the ngos’ allegation about the presence of UCIL agents, Thyrniang said, “We don’t even know the location of the UCIL office and we have never met their officials.”
Earlier, the ngos had protested to the construction of the two-lane road on the ground that the project is designed to facilitate uranium mining and its transportation from the region.
When asked about their stand on uranium mining, the headmen refused to comment on the issue and only said that they would discuss the matter and take a call accordingly.
However, he also informed that even the KHADC chief was silent on whether the road is to facilitate uranium mining or not.
On the other hand, the headmen said it is upto the authorities concerned including the KHADC and state government to take a call whether permission should be issued or not for mining of uranium from the area.-By Our Reporter
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