Government of Meghalaya takes over Punjabi Lane area in Shillong, illegal settlers to be relocated

Shillong: Acting on the unlawful occupation of land in the state, the Meghalaya government has taken over the land of Shillong’s Punjabi Lane locality on Friday.

The occupied land comprises of around 12,444.13 square meters.

According to reports the government paid around INR 2 crore after it took over the land from a local chieftain who is locally known as “Syiem of Hima Mylliem”. Both the parties signed a lease deed during the process.

The government has said that the occupants of the area will be relocated to a different area after the official takeover is complete.

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This happened as a follow up of a high level committee (HLC) which was formed to find a permanent solution to the illegal dwellers residing in the Punjabi Lane Locality. The committee submitted a report and a few recommendations to the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad Sangma. The government accepted the same.

The Punjabi Lane is an area in Shillong which is mostly inhabited by people of Punjab. They were brought there around 200 years back for sanitary works by the British India government.