Shillong: The East Khasi Hills district administration has issued show-cause notices to two organisers of a fishing competition in Mawryngkneng and directed police to register an FIR against them for allegedly violating conditions imposed while granting permission for the event.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Abhilash Baranwal said on Tuesday that the notices were issued for violations of the conditions stipulated in the permission. Police have also been directed to register an FIR against the organisers over alleged public nuisance and violations under the Motor Vehicles Act.
Speaking about measures to prevent similar incidents, Baranwal said the district administration was working on a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to regulate fishing competitions and similar events.
Under the proposed mechanism, organisers would have to provide sufficient advance information and obtain permission well ahead of an event. The administration also plans to make joint inspections of venues mandatory before such events are permitted.
“Representatives of police, the Rangbah Shnong, civil administration and the Fisheries Department will be going together,” Baranwal said.
He said inspections were currently largely carried out by the block office, but the proposed system would bring the concerned departments together to assess arrangements at venues and the potential impact of such events.
The administration is also examining the possibility of imposing penalties when private events result in public nuisance.
“This is something that we need to discuss,” Baranwal said, referring to the proposed mechanism for penalising organisers when such events cause inconvenience or disturbance to the public.
The proposed SOP is aimed at improving coordination among departments and tightening regulation of private fishing competitions and similar events in the district.
The move follows a major traffic disruption in Mawryngkneng on Saturday, August 29, when several commuters were stranded for hours in a massive traffic jam stretching from Mawryngkneng towards Puriang and the bypass road. The congestion was reportedly caused by a local fishing competition and lucky draw event held in the area.
The disruption caused considerable inconvenience to the public and prompted the district administration to initiate action against the organisers.
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