SHILLONG, July 6: The finishing work on the Shillong International Centre for Performing Arts and Culture (SICPAC) Centre coming up on a 40-acre plot of land at Mawkasiang village in New Shillong Township has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic since last year.
A senior official on Monday said they have been facing the problem of getting skilled migrant workers for the last phase of work because of the COVID-related restrictions.
He said that the bulk of the civil work has been completed. Specialised jobs such as internal wiring, audio-visual fitment and furnishing remain.
“We would like to complete all the pending civil work within this current financial year. We would also try to complete pending internal works, acoustical, stagecraft and other miscellaneous works. The completion of these works will depend on the easing of the containment measures,” the official said.
He said the state government has so far received two instalments of the total project cost of Rs 151.33 crore.
3) “We are still awaiting the release of the pending fund amounting to about Rs 30 crore in the third instalment,” he said.
The Hindustan Steelworks Company Ltd, a Central government PSU has been handling the project funded under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources. The Centre’s share of funds is Rs 136.20 crore and that of the state is Rs 15.13 crore.
The project was sanctioned on March 27, 2014, and the contract was awarded on February 25, 2015.
Facilities at the SICPAC include a multi-purpose theatre with a seating capacity of 1,750, an open-air theatre with a seating capacity of 15,000 and parking space.
The centre will also house an art gallery, tribal museum, banquet hall, office space, media centre, food court, fire-fighting and prevention system, effluent treatment and rainwater harvesting system.
The Centre is envisaged to host music, dance, theatre, film festival and other activities that would promote culture and arts, particularly those of the north-eastern states through cultural exchanges with various states in India and other countries.
