Meghalaya Ropeway Plan Draws Mass Protests and an October 26 Deadline

Overview

• Hundreds of residents led a peaceful rally to the Madan Laban project site on Saturday, October 17, and the Joint Action Committee has given the state government until October 26 to scrap or relocate the ropeway.
• State tourism officials say the ropeway has required clearances dating to 2022 and that consultations were held with the Forest Department, Airport Authority, Indian Air Force and Indian Army.
• Officials report a revised design for a roughly 900-metre alignment with six towers whose heights were raised from about 25 metres to nearly 40 metres after an earlier DPR was rejected for proximity to a water source.
• Protesters and civil-society groups say felling of 544 trees on steep slopes will harm the ecologically sensitive Lum Shyllong catchment and threaten the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme, a claim the government disputes while offering compensatory planting elsewhere.
• The dispute centers on procedural legitimacy and local consent, with protesters saying there was no meaningful public hearing and the government pointing to a Dorbar Shnong notice and a local representative’s attendance; failure to resolve the standoff could lead to escalated agitation and political pressure ahead of the October 26 deadline.