SHILLONG, April 23: The Meghalaya Government plans to complete the much-delayed Iawmusiang Market project in Jowai anyhow — be it with the funds from the central government or from the state government.
Informing this, Jowai MLA, Wailadmiki Shylla, said that albeit the construction of the project had started some time ago, the progress is slow.
“We are still planning on how to move forward with the project,” Shylla said, informing that Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has promised to complete the project anyhow.
Informing that the state government is yet to receive the second instalment for the project from the DoNER Ministry, the MLA said that the state government only recently sanctioned Rs 69 lakh for the project and similar grants will be made in future for the completion of the project.
“After I took over as the MLA, I met the chief minister, and he promised me that the government is going to complete the project whether we get the funding from the Centre or the state has to pitch in to pay the funds from its own pocket,” he said.
The DoNER-sponsored project worth nearly Rs 19crore has been left incomplete owing to the non-release of the second instalment of funds by the Centre.
It may be mentioned that Iawmusiang is one of the biggest and the oldest traditional markets in Jaintia Hills and existed since the days of the ancient Jaintia kingdom.
The proposal for redevelopment of the market in Jowai was accorded administrative approval in July 2006 and an amount of Rs 20.09 crore was sanctioned by the DoNER Ministry, of which the first instalment — amounting to Rs 6.33 crore — was released on February 10, 2009.
The project was cleared under Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) Scheme and it later encountered a temporary setback due to of the changes made in the drawings and in the DPR.
The state government requires around 12-14 crore to complete the long-pending project.
