SHILLONG, Oct 1: In a major embarrassment to the Meghalaya government’s claim of transforming Shillong into a Smart City, a video has gone viral showing a large pile of garbage beneath monitors installed as part of the Shillong Smart City project.
The video, which surfaced on Tuesday, depicts a huge mound of trash directly beneath monitors displaying ‘Shillong Smart City.’ The footage was reportedly shot around 7 am the same day.
Following the video’s circulation, citizens across social media platforms began trolling the government, with some mockingly referring to it as the “Sma (smell, in Khasi) City project.” Many labelled the situation a shame, while others called it a joke.
It is worth noting that these monitors are part of the Integrated Command Control Centre project, which aims to place vehicles and various areas of the city under surveillance. The project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 151 crore but has already missed several deadlines.
In addition to this setback, the Meghalaya government recently failed to complete the Smart Road project in the city, abandoning the effort halfway through.
The state government has been facing criticism for the slow and poor implementation of Smart City projects in Shillong. Recently, it gave up on constructing a smart road in Lachumiere after completing a significant portion of the work. Other planned smart road projects in different parts of the city were also cancelled.
There were also junction improvement programmes under the Shillong Smart City project, but it remains unclear whether those projects are still in progress or have been scrapped altogether.
