SHILLONG, Oct 3: The vision for New Shillong Township (NST) was conceived in the 1990s when land was first acquired for the project. However, even after 29 years and the expenditure of crores of rupees on land acquisition, the township remains in the development stage.
The state government has collected a total of Rs 83.07 crore in premiums from land deals in the New Shillong Township, while it has spent over Rs 331 crore on land acquisition in the area to date.
An RTI report revealed that the New Shillong Township Development Agency has received Rs 297.97 crore from the Urban Affairs department for the township’s development. It also disclosed that the government collected a premium of Rs 83.07 crore from 38 departments to which land was allotted in NST. Among the departments that have received land are the CBI, the governments of Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh, the Tourism department for an Urban Park, SICPAC (now known as Lariti International Centre for Performing Arts and Culture), RBI, MPSC, GPO, Skills Park, and others.
The RTI further revealed that the government has so far acquired 1,722.32 acres of land in the NST from various landowners over the years. Land was acquired from 11 landowners in 1995-1996, 5 landowners in 1997-1998, 7 landowners in 2003-2004, 7 landowners in 2006-2007, and 1 landowner in 2021-2022.
It is noteworthy that in 2020, the government passed an order transferring control of the NST to the New Shillong Township Development Agency.
The RTI also confirmed that no loans have been taken from HUDCO for financing the projects in the area. Additionally, the New Shillong Township Development Agency operates a savings account in a private bank, where an interest amount of Rs 22.25 crore has accrued.
