By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 16: Amid protests by the Joint Action Committee against the Shillong Ropeway project, the Meghalaya government has maintained that all required procedures and clearances were secured before the project was initiated.
Tourism Commissioner and Secretary Rosetta Mary Kurbah told media persons on Friday that the government had consulted the Forest Department, Airport Authority, Indian Air Force and Indian Army, and obtained the necessary forest clearances. She said the local Dorbar Shnong had also been approached through its headman and a No Objection Certificate secured. A notice for the public hearing was issued to the Dorbar Shnong, she added, and an elected local representative attended.
On tree felling, Kurbah said 544 trees would be cut along the more than 900-metre alignment. Compensatory plantation at ten times that number has been undertaken elsewhere, as space within Lum Shillong was insufficient. The government has offered to plant trees in Raid Laban Pyllun if land is made available.
Concerns over the watershed were addressed after the Public Health Engineering Department and municipal authorities clarified that the revised design would not harm water retention or the catchment area. An earlier Detailed Project Report was rejected because the site lay close to a water source. The alignment was revised and tower height raised from about 25 metres to nearly 40 metres. The project will have six towers with limited footprints, greenery around the sites and a retaining wall near the first tower. The upper station will be at Shillong Viewpoint and the second at a former nursery.
Kurbah said the project has been in the public domain since 2015, with discussions in 2022 and the foundation stone laid in 2024. Work would begin soon after the DPR revisions. She described the ropeway as important tourism infrastructure that could boost the sector, encourage longer stays and create local employment. She appealed to the JAC to keep its planned peace rally peaceful.