Shillong, Oct 26: In response to the call for suggestions and objections on the Shillong Ropeway Project, TUR opposed the project and submitted the following email to the concerned authorities.
Dated: 24 th October 2026
To
Shri B M Syiem
Chief Ropeways Inspector cum Member Secretary Licensing Authority,
Govt of Meghalaya
Subject : Opposition to The Shillong Peak Ropeway project
Sir,
In response to your notice calling for suggestions and opposition, I am writing on behalf of Thma U Rangli Juki (TUR) to express our vehement opposition to the proposed ₹151-crore Shillong Peak Ropeway Project. On behalf of concerned citizens and aligned with the strong public resentment voiced by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) Against Shillong Ropeway, I urge the government to immediately halt and scrap this project.
The execution of this project relies on a deeply flawed process, threatens our ecological survival, and lacks the public mandate.
Our opposition stands firmly on the following critical grounds:
1. Fraudulent Consultation Process, Lack of Consent and Outright Rejection by the People
The government’s claims of securing “community consent” are a misrepresentation of reality. Affected residents of Laban Pyllun and Lum Shyllong and indeed Shillong as a whole were neither adequately informed nor meaningfully consulted. There was no clear information surrounding the project let alone transparent public hearings to get the opinion of citizens regarding first and foremost the need of such a project. Bypassing genuine grassroot democratic participation to push commercial infrastructure constitutes a direct violation of community trust and democratic norms.
The public has unequivocally rejected this project. This is evident from the massive, peaceful protest rallies and meetings. A clear 10-day ultimatum has already been served to the state government to withdraw the project. TUR had also issued a press release in early August 2026 expressing opposition to this useless borrowing and spending.
2. Severe Destruction of Water Sources and Catchment Areas
The project sits squarely on the Lum Shyllong catchment area, which serves as a vital water source for the entire city of Shillong. Despite official presentations claiming otherwise, over 545 trees have already been felled, deeply scarring the forest ecosystem. Deforestation on this ridge directly threatens local springs and places the city at immediate risk of acute water scarcity and a severe ecological crisis. We cannot trade our long-term water security for short-term tourism infrastructure.
3. Complete Redundancy of the Ropeway for Peak Access
The primary justification for a passenger ropeway—providing access to the Shillong View Point—is entirely obsolete. The existing road from Upper Shillong has already been expanded into a four-lane highway, which efficiently handles the flow of traffic to the peak. Spending ₹151 crores of public money to destroy a pristine watershed for an unnecessary, secondary transit option is fiscally irresponsible and ecologically devastating.
Further, redirecting tourist traffic through the narrow roads of the Laban Pyllun area to get to the ropeway stations will compound shillongs traffic woes.
4. Development is not just about infrastructure and construction that in no way contributes to the overall progress of a town and it’s inhabitants. This vanity ropeway project threatens water security for the people of Shillong, and also destabilisation of our hills in a way that will cause massive and unwarranted landslides and other risks posed by the huge towers being erected on hills slopes in a zone 5 seismic zone.
5. The false promise of employment also needs to be exposed and New development Bank needs to reasses and withdraw this project in light of the corruption that has already taken place with regards to abuse of power and misrepresentation of facts regarding public hearings and public consent.
We demand that the government respect the voice of the public and immediately scrap the Shillong ropeway project.
Yours sincerely,
Angela Rangad
On behalf of TUR
Shillong, Meghalaya
