Shillong Oct 29 PTI Meghalaya government on Friday took over the land of Punjabi Lane locality in Shillong which hit the headlines following group clashes three years ago and decided that illegal settlers will be relocated from there officials saidThe state government took possession of the 1244413 square metre land from the local chieftain after it paid the latter Rs 2 crore as per terms agreedA lease deed was signed among the state government the chieftain locally known as the Syiem of Hima Mylliem and the Shillong Municipal Board in this regard on March 31 Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong saidThe move came a month after a high-level committee HLC set up to find a permanent solution to the issue of illegal settlers at the Punjabi Lane locality submitted its report to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and the government approved its recommendationsPunjabi 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 An incident of assault in the area in May 2018 had resulted in group clashes following which it was put under curfew for over a monthFollowing 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 areaUnlawful occupants of the area will be relocated following the official taking over of the area on Friday said an official of the HLC headed by the deputy chief ministerHe said a beautification drive of the area will be taken up and the state government has plans to relocate a gurudwara and a school from thereThe Harijan Panchayat Committee HPC an organisation working for the welfare of the residents in the area has however rejected the HLCs recommendation submitted to the state government for relocating the people from there claiming it is illegalWe will fight tooth and nail and stop all illegal acts of the Meghalaya government HPC secretary Gurjit Singh had stated in a statement recently PTI JOP NN NN

Shillong Sep 28 PTI 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 saidThe panel headed by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong submitted the report three years after its constitution and has made certain recommendations on the issue the official saidPunjabi 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 An incident of assault in the area in May 2018 had resulted in group clashes following which it was put under curfew for over a monthFollowing 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 areaDeputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and other members of the high level committee submitted the extensive report to the chief minister at his office chamber today an official told PTIThree other ministers are members of the committee PTI JOP NN NN