Development / Meghalaya

SHILLONG, May 4 – Three prominent NGOs of the State have asked the Uranium Mining Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to quit Meghalaya immediately. The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Meghalaya People’s Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) and the Hynniewtrep Environmental Site Protection Organisation (HESPO) have rejected the UCIL’s invitation for a debate on the proposed mining of uranium at Domiasiat in the West Khasi Hills district and instead asked the latter to pack up their bags and “get out of our land.”

The NGOs reiterated their decision to continue the movement against uranium mining in...

Shillong, May 3: The construction company that sued the Meghalaya government for scrapping a lucrative real estate deal is close to signing a new contract to redevelop the same property as part of an out-of-court settlement. Chief minister D.D. Lapang today defended the decision to allow Asian Housing Construction Ltd (AHCL) to “rebuild” Calcutta’s Meghalaya House, saying critics of his government should realise that it is the only way to avoid paying a hefty amount as compensation.

“I am very clear about it and do not want anyone to make an issue out of it. We have to come out of the legal...

Shillong, May 2: Unmoved by the groundswell of public opinion against uranium mining at Domiasiat in Meghalaya, chief minister D.D. Lapang said his government would take a decision based on technical reports, not emotions and rumours. He told the media at Raj Bhavan last evening that the government had requested Bhaba Atomic Research Centre to assist it in carrying out “an independent study” at Domiasiat. He said the centre was likely to respond positively.

“We will not go by any rumours or emotions. We will depend on studies and feedback, which will tell us what to do”, the chief minister...

TURA, May 1 –The residents of Mahendraganj town, a booming border town of West Garo Hills facing Bangladesh, have decided to take the extreme step in airing their grievances by putting a stop to the payment of their electricity bills by May 31 unless the bleak power scenario brightens soon.

The inhabitants of Mahendraganj and its neighbouring villages have been facing several problems since the last many years. Though the town has been electrified since many years ago the voltage is extremely low during the peak evening hours. From 5 pm to 10 pm voltage is so low that it is virtually...

SHILLONG, April 30— The Government of Meghalaya has ordered immediate closure of at least eleven saw mills in the state which were found to be working in gross violation of the Supreme Court order banning timber movement. The apex court, on January 15, 1998 had issued an order banning timber movement based on public interest litigation (PIL) lodged in 1995 seeking the court’s intervention to check depletion of forest cover in the country in general and the north eastern region in particular.

Sources in the Forest Department said that on inquiry that the eleven saw mills, located in parts of...

SHILLONG, April 30 — Mining of the uranium deposits in the West Khasi Hills would ultimately bring in rich dividends for Meghalaya as a whole, Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) authorities have reiterated in the wake of prominent NGOs of the State vehemently opposing the proposed project. Advisor to the UCIL, CF Lyngdoh told reporters that if allowed, mining of uranium in the Domiasiat area of the West Khasi Hills would actually lead to economic progress of the people of the State at large.

Brushing aside apprehensions of hazardous radiation, Lyngdoh said, if required, people living...

SHILLONG, April 2— Meghalaya is going to receive Rs 80 crore (1.96 billion yen) from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for renovation and modernisation of Umiam Stage II Hydro Power Station, Meghalaya State Electricity Board (MeSEB) sources have revealed. Meghalaya is one of the recipients of the Official Development Assistance (ODA), routed through JBIC, a Japanese Government's official agency extending ODA loan assistance to developing countries, amongst eight mega projects involving the States of Delhi, West Bengal, Uttaranchal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and...

SHILLONG Feb 9 ? Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today dedicated to the nation the North Eastern Regional Load Despatch Centre (NERLDC) at Lapalang here, reports PTI. The Rs 263.8-crore NERLDC project of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited was dedicated by Vajpayee through remote control facility over VSAT communication system at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

The event was watched in Shillong by Meghalaya Minister for Cooperation, Charles Pyngrope, State Chief Secretary PJ Bezley, Chairman and Managing Director of Power Grid RP Singh and others. The project was completed eight months ahead...

Shillong, Feb. 5: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd today launched its CellOne services in the Meghalaya capital, promising to make it operational by March 31. There is also a lot of heartburn regarding the shift in policy by Reliance Mobile from the pre-paid to the post-paid system.

The inauguration of CellOne services coincides with the problems that have surfaced in Kohima and other parts of Nagaland involving CellOne users. But BSNL has overlooked criticism for failing to provide regular and smooth connectivity in Nagaland and other areas in the region.

Subscribers are fuming over the services...

New Delhi, Jan. 29: Meghalaya chief minister D.D. Lapang has urged Delhi to do a rethink on its directive to mobile phone service-provider Reliance Telecom to shift subscribers in Shillong and elsewhere in the Northeast from pre-paid to post-paid connections.

Lapang told minister of state for communication and information technology Ashok Pradhan that the new system had not gone down well with mobile phone users.

?The entire Northeast is passing through a crucial phase with peace gradually beginning to return to this troubled region. Such measures are likely to be opposed by the people and...