HISTORY
Brief Historical Background of SMB
The Shillong Municipal Board has a long history dating back since 1878, when a proclamation was issued constituting Shillong and its suburbs, including the villages of Mawkhar and Laban, into a station under the Bengal Municipal Act of 1876. Inclusion of the villages of Mawkhar (S.E. Mawkhar, Jaiaw and part of Jhalupara and Mawprem) and Laban (Lumparing, Madan laban, Kench’s Trace and Rilbong) within the Municipalty of Shillong was agreed by Hain Manik Syiem of Mylliem under the agreement of 15th November 1878.
The civic affairs were initially managed by a station Committee which first met on the 6th January 1879. In 1904, Shillong was divided into 5 wards, viz the European quarters, Jail Road, Police Bazar and Mawkhar.
On the 10th March 1909, the Shillong Station Committee adopted a resolution recommending that Shillong be upgraded and immediately converted into a Municipality under the Bengal Act of 1884. But this suggestion was not welcomed by the officiating Commissioner of the Surma Valley who sent a reply saying:
“I have already indicated that the conversion of the Station into a Municipalities not without a drawbacks. Shillong is the headquarters of the Government and it appears to me highly necessary that the Government should insist on the management of the place being kept at a high standard which I am afraid is very rarely maintained in the average Municipality of the Province. It is also absolutely necessary that the Lt. Governor should have the power to step in and to veto proposals of the Municipal Board or compel them to carry necessary work. Insufficient sanitary management would be intolerable at a place like Shillong which is at once a summer headquarters of the Government. Shillong would undoubtedly be notified a town of which the Commissioner as well as the Chairman are nominated by the local Government.
The pressing necessity to convert Shillong Station into a Municipality was met with a positive response from the Government which conveyed its sanction to the proposal of the Committee on the 2nd July 1910. Further, on the basis of an agreement with the Syiem of Mylliem on the 6th September 1910, the village of Malki, Laitumkhrah, Mawprem and Jhalupara were brought under Municipal Authority, and Shillong was connected to a Municipality on 15th November 1910, comprising the following ten wards.
| 1. | Ward No.1 | Laitumkhrah |
| 2. | Ward No.2 | European Quarters |
| 3. | Ward No.3 | Jail Road and Haneng Umkhrah |
| 4. | Ward No.4 | Police Bazar |
| 5. | Ward No.5 | Markhar |
| 6. | Ward No.6 | Mission Compound and Jaiaw |
| 7. | Ward No.7 | Qualapatty and Southern Mawkhar |
| 8. | Ward No.8 | Jhalupara and Mawprem |
| 9. | Ward No.9 | Laban |
| 10. | Ward No.10 | Malki |
During the period between 1939-1945, practically nothing was done by the Municipal Board for further expansion and development of the Shillong Municipality. Then, after India’s Independence and especially after the advent of the District Council, expansion of the Shillong Municipality limits was opposed by the Council to protect tribal lands.
In 1971, the state of Meghalaya was carved out of erstwhile of Assam and the Assam Municipal Act, 1956 was replaced by the Meghalaya Municipal Act, 1973, the new Act bearing a semblance to the old one, excepting for enhancement in the rates of fines to be levied on unauthorized construction and encroachment.
Further, the Government of Meghalaya while partially modifying its modification of September 1972, and in exercise of powers conferred by Section 13 of the Meghalaya Municipal Act, 1973, had in 1974 divided the Municipality into 27 separate single member wards, each with specific boundaries.
The 27 wards, which are unaltered till date was
| 1. | Ward No.1 | Laitumkhrah |
| 2. | Ward No.2 | Laitumkhrah |
| 3. | Ward No.3 | Laitumkhrah |
| 4. | Ward No.4 | Laitumkhrah |
| 5. | Ward No.5 | Malki |
| 6. | Ward No.6 | Malki |
| 7. | Ward No.7 | European Ward |
| 8. | Ward No.8 | European Ward |
| 9. | Ward No.9 | Police Bazar |
| 10. | Ward No.10 | Jail Road |
| 11. | Ward No.11 | Jail Road |
| 12. | Ward No.12 | Mawkhar |
| 13. | Ward No.13 | Mawkhar |
| 14. | Ward No.14 | Jaiaw |
| 15. | Ward No.15 | Jaiaw |
| 16. | Ward No.16 | Jaiaw |
| 17. | Ward No.17 | S.E.Mawkhar |
| 18. | Ward No.18 | S.E.Mawkhar |
| 19. | Ward No.19 | Mawprem |
| 20. | Ward No. 20 | Mawprem |
| 21. | Ward No. 21 | Mawprem |
| 22. | Ward No. 22 | Kench’s Trace |
| 23. | Ward No. 23 | Kench’s Trace |
| 24. | Ward No. 24 | Laban |
| 25. | Ward No. 25 | Laban |
| 26. | Ward No.26 | Lumparing |
| 27. | Ward No. 27 | Lumparing |