TURA, December 14 : A first of its kind in the ecologically important Nokrek National Biosphere reserve region of Garo Hills, foundation for the much sought after Eco Resort centre was laid at the scenic Sakal A.duma village by Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday morning, paving the way for encouraging and supporting sustainable livelihood through eco tourism in the area.
Present to witness this important event were nokmas and villagers alongside legislators that included Thomas A Sangma, Govt. Chief Whip Marcuise N Marak, Siju-Rongara MLA, Rakkam A Sangma, West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh and Rongram Block Development Officer Shelley Ch Momin.
After laying the foundation, the chief minister informed the gathering that this resort will be one of the best tourist resorts in the entire North East India and revealed that an amount of Rs. 23 crores will be spent for this project with widely accepted design that shall be completed within a year.
Pointing out that promotion and development of sustainable tourism involves the support of the local people, the chief minister said that this project will be the property of the people of the region.
He also informed that the Govt. has received an amount of Rs. 700 crores from JICA for promotion and development of tourism sector in the state out of which Rs. 350 crores each for Khasi Hills and Garo Hills respectively have been earmarked.
The chief minister further informed that Water Reservoir Project to protect and preserve the rivers and streams and other water bodies will soon be implemented in the state.
The Chief Adviser to the chief minister, Thomas A Sangma, while speaking on the day informed that this resort will have an information centre which will be a centre of learning for the tourists and the researchers and urged the Agriculture and Veterinary departments to take up schemes in this region.
The Govt. Chief Whip, Marcuise N Marak, while speaking about the promotion and development of tourism in the area informed the gathering that the development of Rongram-Rongrenggre-Darugre road will soon be started thereby providing better road communication for the people of Rombagre, Rongsakgre, Samandagre, etc.
Earlier, the West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Ram Singh delivered the welcome address stressing on the importance of green tourism and livelihood programmes that go in sync with preservation of the ecology.