By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: In what can be seen as a deviation from its earlier stand on the matter, the State Government on Monday maintained that it is not moving ahead with the New Shillong Township (NST) project in a strict sense but is still reviewing the varied opinion on the matter.
“The government is still awaiting views and opinions from different groups of people on the matter and will not move ahead with the project until the formalities are completed,” Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh told The Shillong Times on Monday.
Lyngdoh, however, informed that the survey process for land acquisition has been completed and she was waiting for the survey report to reach her table.
Lyngdoh’s comment on the NST on Monday is in stark contrast to a statement she had earlier in the month when she had said that the Government was going ahead with the land acquisition. “We are doing the necessary exercise and my interaction with stakeholders indicates that they in the area will not say no to developmental activities,” she had stated.
The State Government’s plan to acquire 2000 acres of land for the NST to decongest Shillong city suffered a blow when several NGOs and local residents expressed their stiff opposition to the plan fearing that it would lead to large scale influx of illegal immigrants into the State.
The NST envisages accommodating a population of two lakh and so far 370.26 hectares of land has been acquired at a cost of Rs. 33.73 crore.