SHILLONG, Dec 14: After a wait of more than three decades, the Garo Hills irrigation project may finally come to pass with the state government having sanctioned Rs 1.80 crore to the Central Water Commission to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for Rongai Valley Medium Irrigation Project in Chibinang.
Informing this, Phulbari MLA SG Esmatur Mominin said that the project was conceptualised in 1989, while many works were completed. However, the previous MUA Government abandoned the project as they found it unviable.
He said that the Central Water Commission, after completing the DPR, would submit the details before the Centre, adding that the Centre has already agreed to sanction necessary funds in order to complete the project. “If this project comes through, it will be of great benefit not only to the people of plain-belt region but the entire state,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong informed that SGE Mominin is the second MLA from the constituency after late Manirul Islam Sarkar to take up the issue of the project.
The Rongai Valley Medium Irrigation Project in Chibinang has remained embroiled in controversy over the decades.
The project was sanctioned in 1990 by the Planning Commission, New Delhi, at a cost of Rs 16.30 lakh.
While the barrage of the project was completed, it landed into several controversies over the payment of contractors and issues of payment for the land acquisition.