By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 29: In what is clearly an unplanned decision, the Polo Shopping Mall, constructed at a cost of Rs 100 crore, continues to be under lock and key even after nine months since the project was inaugurated by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Sources said that one of the prime factors for the project to remain stalled is that the government is asking for very high rent from the interested shop owners and bidders.
The state government floated the bids at least on two occasions for running the mall and the shops, but those bids seem to have failed somewhere.
According to the sources, if the mall were located in a prime location like Police Bazar, the government might charge high rent from the interested bidders. However, given its current location, it would be difficult for the government to operate it, especially while demanding high rent.
As the mall continues to remain stalled, people have started trolling the project. Recently, some pictures shared on social media showed clothes being dried inside the mall.
As per the bid, there is a space for 109 shops in the six-storey building. The government intended to allot 93 shops and keep the remaining others for its own use or for allotment at its discretion.
Of the 93 shops to be allotted, the government further decided to allocate 69 shops at market price (termed as non-subsidised shops) and the remaining 24 others to be allotted at a subsidised price.
The government had also intended to open a food court, a game zone, and parking facilities for about 86 ECS. The stilt floor parking includes stack parking with 15 EV chargers. The project is equipped with state-of-the-art amenities such as lifts, escalators, firefighting systems (sprinklers and fire hydrants), water and sewerage treatment plants, rainwater harvesting, solar power systems, CCTV surveillance, public address systems, and Building Management System.
Attempts were made to contact officials of the Urban Affairs Department for a response, but none was received till the filing of this report.
