Shillong, March 8: The High Court of Meghalaya has asked the administration to keep vigil in the city to identify, remove and prevent new encroachments of street space by illegal street vendors and take legal steps against them.
During the hearing of the pending PIL on traffic congestion on Friday, the Bench comprising Chief Justice IP Mukerji and Justice W Diengdoh wanted the government to continue to penalise errant vehicle drivers with fine for disobedience to traffic rules and for parking in no parking areas and to generally ensure that there is no reduction of available road space by encroachment made by street vendors, by illegal parking and so on.
The court will hear the matter again on May 8 and it directed the Commissioner and Secretary Urban Affairs Department to file another report showing further action which has been taken in this regard by May 6.
Earlier, it was submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that only initial steps have been taken and that substantial steps are yet to be taken to implement the policies to reduce congestion.
On the Shared Mobility Initiative (STEMS) project, the court observed that in April, 2023 , there was only one bus with 10 per cent occupancy, but in February, 2025, there were 29 buses with 100 per cent occupancy by school students.
The court appreciated the move taken by the administration to formulate a parking policy called Shillong Parking Policy,
2025.
The administration proposes to acquire and launch a fleet of 35 modern, technologically advanced and “comfortable buses” that would
reduce use of private transport on the city roads.
Survey of street vendors
According to the report of the government, it appears that a survey of street vendors in
Shillong was initiated. The Provisional Town Vending Committee held three meetings in December and February and it has identified 25 locations for street vending across Shillong, to accommodate 1400 vendors effective from February 7. An official
notification has been issued for relocation of a substantial number of vendors. The report says that this exercise was “to streamline vendor operations and ensure a smooth transition to the new vending areas”.
The court said that there is a need to identify street vending areas, relocate areas permitted to be used for street vending, regulation of traffic in general, allocating and relocating parking spaces, clearance of as much road area as possible to allow free movement of vehicles and overall implementing policies and plans to make the capital of Meghalaya-Shillong region, a modem, clean and well administered city.
