SHILLONG: The coronavirus threat has hit several infrastructural projects in the state, including the much-awaited building of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly at Mawdiandiang.
There is no positive case in the state yet, but eight people have died elsewhere in the country and the number of cases has crossed the 400-mark.
A PWD official told The Shillong Times that several projects have been stalled.
Giving an example, the official said that around 200 labourers were engaged in the construction of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly building, but now just a few were coming to work. Similarly, work on the Teachers Training Centre at Malki has taken a hit due to depleted manpower.
Developmental work in the state has been under stress since December last year when the anti-CAA protests broke out. The incident at Ichamati, in which a KSU activist was killed, and its repercussion in some parts of the state particularly Shillong also had an adverse impact on the work. As the dust appeared to be settling down over these incidents, the coronavirus threat started looking real. “It has now become very difficult for the government to mobilise labourers for the projects, including on the entry and exit point,” the official said.
The official also informed that there are several school projects under the Asian Development Bank which were to be handed over to school authorities within this month but now the projects, which are time-bound, will be delayed.
Some of the schools which are being taken up under the project include Alpha School, Seng Khasi School, Madan Laban Nepali School and Laban Bengalee Boys HS School.
