By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The State Government has planned to acquire a whopping 2000 acres of land in New Shillong Township to ease the congestion in Shillong city.
Principal Secretary, Urban Affairs, P Naik said that the State Government will finish the land acquisition process in three months.
The state Government has already acquired 370.26 hectares of land in the New Shillong Township at a cost of Rs 33.73 crore and certain plots have already been allotted to IIM Shillong, NIFT and others.
According to Naik, the Government will use the land for multi prone activities including construction of shopping malls, truck terminus, residential colonies, commercial institutions and others.
The Principal Secretary also informed that the Government is planning to extend the New Shillong Township till the Shillong Bypass.
“This is a long term plan and the only way to save Shillong from further congestion,” Naik said.
To start with, the State Government decided to shift the proposed Polo Shopping Complex to the New Shillong Township after the Central Government asked the State Government to return back the sanctioned money since the project had failed to take off in Polo after local businessmen filed a case against the proposed project.
Naik also said that the Government was forced to shift the Polo Shopping Complex project to the Shillong Township since the applicants were not willing to withdraw the litigation and the Government also does not want to return back the money to the Centre. “We are only shifting the Shopping Complex project but the Polo market will continue to be there,” he said.
It is learnt that the State Government has already communicated its decision to the Central Government with regards to the shifting of the proposed shopping complex to the New Shillong Township.
The NBCC has also conducted an inspection of the proposed site for the shopping complex in the Township area.