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HILLONG: The anti-uranium stir in Meghalaya is getting murkier than ever. A government vehicle was set ablaze by miscreants on Wednesday, hours
ahead of a night road blockade called by Khasi Students Union (KSU), which begun at 7 this evening to protest against the proposed uranium mining project in the state.
A Maruti Gypsy, belonging to the health department's Pasteur Institute, was burnt down at Jaiaw locality in the city in the afternoon. "The vehicle was parked on the roadside when four men lobbed something burning at it. The driver was inside, but disembarked immediately after the vehicle caught fire," police sources said.
The East Khasi Hills district administration has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 (CrPC) restricting any person or group of persons from obstructing any vehicular movement or causing damage to any vehicle," East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner J Lyngdoh said.
KSU had called for night road blockade from 7 pm on Wednesday to 5 am on Thursday, which would resume at 9 pm on Thursday to 5 am on Friday. The blockade is in protest against the state government's decision to lease 422 sq hectares of land to Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in the uranium-rich areas of the state for pre-project developmental work. The Union maintains that the project would lead to severe health hazards besides damaging the environment.
Government sources said Central paramilitary forces would be deployed, if required, to ensure that the blockade does not affect normal life. Principle secretary (Home) Barkos Warjri said the SPs of East and West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi districts have been instructed to ensure free flow of traffic on the highways. "Orders have been given to officials to keep government vehicles in safe custody during the blockade hours," he said.
HILLONG: The anti-uranium stir in Meghalaya is getting murkier than ever. A government vehicle was set ablaze by miscreants on Wednesday, hours
ahead of a night road blockade called by Khasi Students Union (KSU), which begun at 7 this evening to protest against the proposed uranium mining project in the state.
A Maruti Gypsy, belonging to the health department's Pasteur Institute, was burnt down at Jaiaw locality in the city in the afternoon. "The vehicle was parked on the roadside when four men lobbed something burning at it. The driver was inside, but disembarked immediately after the vehicle caught fire," police sources said.
The East Khasi Hills district administration has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 (CrPC) restricting any person or group of persons from obstructing any vehicular movement or causing damage to any vehicle," East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner J Lyngdoh said.
KSU had called for night road blockade from 7 pm on Wednesday to 5 am on Thursday, which would resume at 9 pm on Thursday to 5 am on Friday. The blockade is in protest against the state government's decision to lease 422 sq hectares of land to Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in the uranium-rich areas of the state for pre-project developmental work. The Union maintains that the project would lead to severe health hazards besides damaging the environment.
Government sources said Central paramilitary forces would be deployed, if required, to ensure that the blockade does not affect normal life. Principle secretary (Home) Barkos Warjri said the SPs of East and West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi districts have been instructed to ensure free flow of traffic on the highways. "Orders have been given to officials to keep government vehicles in safe custody during the blockade hours," he said.
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