SHILLONG, March 27: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Monday justified the spending worth Rs 254 crore on consultants in the last five years stating that projects worth Rs 15,000 crore being implemented in the state require consultants.
Replying to the discussion on Budget in the Assembly, Conrad elucidated that an amount of Rs 250 crore is equivalent to Rs 50 crore ever year and Rs 20 lakh is spent on every project for consultancy.
Stating that consultancy is mandated and there is no choice, the chief minister said that projects worth Rs 12,000 crore are being developed under externally aided projects, Rs 1,000 crore under Smart City and Rs 3,000 crore under PMGSY.
“Rs 15,000 crore worth project is being implemented which mandates consultants,” he said. Talking about the proposed skywalks in the city, Conrad said that the idea is to connect these skywalks with parking lots.
Informing the House that the second phase of the proposed skywalks will come up in Laitumkhrah and Dhankheti areas, he said that the government envisages multiple skywalk networks throughout the city.
On the Shillong ropeway project, Conrad said this would be the most iconic project in which Rs 140 crore will be spent to attract high-end tourism.
Admitting that preparing even a small DPR in MeECL sometimes takes months, the CM said this is where consultants come in. It is next to impossible for an engineer of the Tourism department to prepare a DPR for the state of the art ropeway, he added.
On the issue of expansion of the runway of Shillong Airport, the chief minister clarified that the process of examination of expansion of the runway had started years ago. There was a technical input about an obstruction and the government felt that it must explore other options and not take just one report as gospel truth, the CM said.
According to him, even if the government cannot introduce Air Bus and Boeings, it would attempt to rope in aircrafts which can accommodate 150 passengers. He reiterated that the Greenfield airport project is much more difficult option.
