Shillong: On Monday, approximately 50 wooden shops situated along the Shillong-Banuin Road in Upper Shillong in Meghalaya were evicted by the Forest Department due to alleged unauthorized construction along the highway.
Surprisingly, the shop owners alleged that they were not given any prior notice about the eviction drive, except for eight shops which were informed beforehand.
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The Forest Department employed heavy machinery to dismantle these predominantly wooden structures.
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Despite their efforts to halt the operation, the shop owners sought assistance from the police personnel and the magistrate, but their appeals went reportedly unanswered.
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Expressing their outrage, the shop owners condemned the sudden eviction and demanded compensation from the government.
They questioned the timing of the drive, stating that they could have been removed months ago instead of now.
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One of the shop owners remarked, “They had ample time to remove us, so why choose this moment?”
Many of the shop owners claimed that the damages they incurred amounted to lakhs of rupees and insisted that the government should provide compensation for their losses.
There are also some allegations suggesting that the shops were intentionally established along this particular section 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.