With improved situation on the ground curfew in parts of strife-torn Shillong was relaxed for seven hours on Sunday to enable stranded people in 14 localities to buy their essentials and tourists to exit from Meghalaya capital.

P.S. Dakar, Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi district said on Sunday, “Curfew has been relaxed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in view of the improvement in law and order situation since Saturday evening. But night curfew across the city will remain until further orders.”

The senior police official said that the local taxi and private vehicles have been plying while long-distance transport services, particularly to Guwahati, remain affected. “We do not know how many tourists are stranded in Shillong, but we are trying to ensure they can return home safe,” he said.

Most of the tourist hotels are located in Police Bazaar which is close to the trouble-torn area in the city.

Shillong has been a popular tourist destination after the 1990s when communal violence – Bengali and Nepali communities were the worst affected then – had much of Meghalaya burning.

There were hardly any clashes since then. The current clashes were triggered by a row over parking of a State transport bus in the Them Iew Mawlong locality, often called Punjabi or Sweeper Lane as well as Harijan Colony.

About 500 residents of the Harijan Colony, mostly women and children from Dalit Sikhs, who are employed as sanitation workers by the municipality, have taken shelter at Shillong’s Garrison Ground under the jurisdiction of Army’s 101 Area.

“We are not aware of people taking refuge. At least the Army did not inform us,” Mr. Dkhar said.

On Thursday clashes were erupted after rumors spread through social media saying a local tribal man had been killed in Harijan Colony. Though the police had earlier in the day contained a minor clash between the driver and conductor of a State transport bus and women of the locality who had thrown stones at the bus for blocking their way to a water source.

Police said nine motorbikes were burnt around 10:30 p.m. when miscreants attacked a showroom in Mawblei area with petrol bombs. A shop in Punjabi Lane was also damaged earlier.

A report from Nongpoh, a town halfway between Guwahati and Shillong, said a truck with Punjab registration was torched at Umran nearby on Saturday. The truck was carrying CGI sheets from Nepal to Tripura. The highway bypassing Shillong is considered to be the lifeline for southern Assam, Mizoram and Tripura besides parts of Manipur.

The Meghalaya State Development Report, 2008 said most of the slum pockets are located in low-lying and water-logged areas amid poor sanitary conditions and unhygienic surroundings.

In 2011, the State government claimed to have set a target to reduce slum areas by at least 75% within a decade, and said some of the slums should be de-notified by 2021.

On Saturday, the tribal headmen of 12 sensitive localities met Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on the issue of shifting the residents of Harijan Colony. While the headmen wanted the colony to be vacated immediately, Mr. Sangma said a report has been sought from the Urban Affairs and Revenue departments on the status of the rehabilitation policy.

People’s Democratic Party, one of the ruling allies of National People’s Party and BJP, said the government should shift the colony by Tuesday. Paul Lyngdoh, leader of United Democratic Party (UDP) – also in the ruling alliance – accused the previous Congress-led government for failing to resolve the “Punjabi Lane issue because of vote-bank politics”.

On Saturday, the army was asked to be on standby and curfew continued in parts of Meghalaya’s capital Shillong for the third day after night-long violence during which a mob burnt a shop, a house and damaged at least five vehicles besides injuring a senior police officer.