SHILLONG, Jan 9 - Implementation of Smart City projects worth Rs 160 crore has started in Meghalaya. Shillong is among 99 cities selected under the Smart City Mission of the Central Government.
Meghalaya Urban Affairs Minister Hamletson Dohling today said that under the Smart City Mission, the Government would construct a new market complex at Laitumkhrah at a cost of Rs 30 crore.
�Work order will be issued soon to the selected contractor,� he said. He added that the existing market complex at Laitumkhrah has to be dismantled as it is in a bad shape.
Another Smart City project worth Rs 80 crore is a market complex at Polo, close to the newly-constructed market complex. A tender document for this project is under preparation, Dohling said.
He said that the road from the Governor�s House to Polo would be converted into a �smart road�.
The minister stated that a world-class structure would be built at the Barik junction in an area of 3.5 acres, which will have facilities like parking, park, museum, stalls, etc.
Last year, the Government invited firms to take part in a competition to display architectural designs for construction of the proposed structure under the Smart City project.
Five parties, including the Department of Architecture, Science and Technology, NEHU; Faws Design, Shillong; Flying Elephant Studio Project, Bengaluru; M/s Kshestra, Hyderabad, and Visio Architecture Ltd, Port Louis, Mauritius, participated in the competition.
Dohling said that out of these five firms, the design prepared by the Flying Elephant Studio Project, Bengaluru, has been selected.
�Now a DPR for the iconic structure will be prepared as per the design, and the cost of the project will be known after preparation of the DPR,� Dohling said.
Speaking about the financial problems faced by the State after the funding pattern for the Smart City projects was made 50:50 between the Centre and the State Government, Dohling admitted that the State would face fund constraints. But it will find ways to garner funds, including loans, besides implementing the projects on a public-private partnership mode, he added.
