Guwahati: Meghalaya Police, accompanied by magistrates, reopened the lower terminal premises of the Shillong Peak Ropeway Project at Madan Laban on Wednesday, November 4, by removing the locks installed by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) on October 27.
The team cleared the entrance gate and the office of KEC-TCL (JV), the company executing the project, bringing the council’s closure of the premises to an end. Security personnel were deployed at the location to prevent any untoward incident.
The KHADC, headed by Chief Executive Member Winston Tony Lyngdoh, had sealed the premises over allegations that the company was operating without a mandatory trading licence from the district council.
The council had based its action on provisions of the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District (Trading by Non-Tribals) Regulation, 1954, which it cited in connection with the company’s alleged failure to obtain the required licence.
The state government had directed the council to undo the closure. In a letter dated October 30, the Tourism Department instructed the KHADC to remove the locks and seals, return materials seized from the project site and revoke its closure order.
The council did not comply with the directive, following which the police intervened and reopened the premises. The dispute has brought the state government and the autonomous district council into a disagreement over their respective regulatory authority.
The Tourism Department had separately approached the police over the incident, seeking action against a KHADC inspector for sealing the government-owned project site without authorisation.