Shillong, Aug 5: The party on the highway is officially over.
East Khasi Hills has slapped an instant ban on roadside cooking and littering at tourist hotspots, with the District Magistrate ordering a crackdown from Tuesday to save the hills from turning into one giant picnic ground.
District Magistrate Abhilash Baranwal invoked Section 163 of the BNSS after the Tourism Department flagged what was becoming a messy routine — travelers firing up stoves on road shoulders, charcoal smoke drifting across viewpoints, and plastic bottles and food wrappers left behind on the Shillong–Mawkdok–Sohra road and other popular stretches.
Officials said the scenes were doing real damage. Drains were clogging, forests were getting scarred, traffic was getting blocked, and fire hazards were popping up right next to dry slopes. Worse, the trash was trashing Meghalaya’s image as a clean, responsible tourism destination.
So now, no more kettles on the kerb. The order bans cooking with firewood, charcoal, LPG or any fuel on roadsides, viewpoints and public spaces. It also bans dumping plastic, cans, bottles, food waste or any garbage in public areas, forests, water bodies, drains and along roadsides across all notified tourist spots in the district.
Violate it and you’ll be booked under Section 223 of the BNS and other laws.
Issued ex parte due to urgency, the order came into force immediately and will stay until further notice.
The administration is urging tourists, locals and vendors to ditch the throwaway habit and keep East Khasi Hills spotless. After all, the view is the main course — not the litter left behind.
