By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Assembly Speaker Charles Pyngrope said that there is no fresh decision to shift the location of the new Assembly complex from Tara Ghar.
“The High Powered Committee (HPC) has approved the site at Tara Ghar for constructing the new Assembly Complex and there is no new decision to change the location,” Pyngrope said while speaking to reporters here on Thursday.
He further said that it is the HPC which has to decide if the site has to change.
Meanwhile, Pyngrope informed that the construction of the new Assembly complex is still being examined by the State Finance department.
“We had submitted the project proposal to the Finance department some time ago. Perhaps the department is taking time to examine the matter since there is a huge financial involvement in this project,” he said.
It may be mentioned that the HPC which includes the Speaker of the Assembly, the Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition amongst others, had in 2009 accepted the government land at Tara Ghar for constructing the new Assembly complex.
In 2010, the State Government had handed over the land at Tara Ghar to the Assembly Secretariat for constructing the new Assembly building.
However, the decision, which was welcomed by social organisations under the umbrella of the Steering Committee Against Murder of Democracy (SCAMOD), was opposed by other groups and individuals.
The Meghalaya Government Construction Corporation (MGCC) had in March last year said that the 6.4-acre plot at Tara Ghar would include only about 28 per cent of the built-up area while the remaining 72 per cent would be made available for vehicular parking and landscaping.
It also claimed that only about four per cent of the trees located in and around Tara Ghar would be felled for constructing the Assembly complex.
The 41-ft high complex will have five floors including a water treatment plant, sewage treatment plant and facilities for rainwater harvesting.
Since January 9, 2001 when an inferno gutted the picturesque and historical Assembly building at Khyndai Lad, Meghalaya has not been able to have a new Assembly House.