New Assembly building continues to remain domeless
SHILLONG, Feb 1: More than 19 months have rolled by since the dome of the under-construction Meghalaya Legislative Assembly building at the New Shillong Township collapsed and the building still remains domeless.
The work has been going on at a snail’s pace since the dome collapsed on May 22, 2022.
Assembly Speaker Thomas Sangma A expressed disappointment over the slow progress of the work. He, however, is optimistic the project at Mawdiangdiang will be able to meet its September 2024 deadline.
Sangma, who inspected the project on Thursday, was not at all impressed with the progress of work.
“I have asked them to expedite the work,” he said, adding that the delay in the arrival of material is the reason behind the slow progress of work.
The main hall or central hall will have a pre-fabricated steel structure dome. Around 50 per cent of material for it has arrived.
Stating that the work on the building is almost completed, Sangma said the implementing agency assured him that the central hall will be completed by March.
“I am taking a personal interest and I will be regularly visiting the site to ensure that the work doesn’t get delayed (further),” the Speaker said.
The dome had collapsed due to its dead weight and lack of coordination between the designers and the contractors working on the project, IIT Guwahati, which probed the incident, had stated in its report.
Meanwhile, the Assembly is exploring the idea of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) during House sessions. The Speaker said they have sought the help of agencies and experts who can guide them to use AI in the next session.
According to him, they want to allow the members to speak in local languages and as such, they are looking at how AI can help with the translation.
“The agencies will be there during this Budget session. They will try to come up with suggestions on how we can use AI,” Sangma said.
“Probably in the next session, we can expect AI to be used for translation from local languages to English. I am keen to introduce this. Hopefully, it will be done,” he said.
The Speaker said they are yet to reach the 100 per cent mark to go paperless. He said most members agreed to accept the notifications online.
“We are in the process of going paperless. We have reached more than 60-70 per cent mark,” he added.
