In Upper Shillong 50 shops evicted by forest department

Shillong: Around 50 timber shops located along the Shillong Banuin Road in Meghalaya’s Upper Shillong were on Monday evicted by the Forest Department due to alleged unauthorized construction along the highway.

Surprisingly, the shopkeepers alleged that they were not given any advance notice about the eviction drive, except eight shops which were notified in advance.

The forest department used heavy machinery to dismantle these mainly wooden structures.
Despite efforts to stop the operation, shop owners sought help from police officials and magistrates, but their appeals reportedly went unheeded.

Expressing their outrage, shopkeepers condemned the sudden eviction and demanded compensation from the government.

He questioned the timing of the drive, saying they could have been removed months ago instead of now.
One of the shopkeepers remarked, “They had plenty of time to remove us, so why choose this moment?”

Several shop owners claimed that they had suffered losses of lakhs of rupees and urged the government to provide compensation for their losses.

There are also allegations that the shops were deliberately set up along this particular stretch of the highway as a form of protest against the non-payment of compensation to landowners affected by the implementation of the Shillong-Dawki Road project.