SHILLONG, May 4: The under-construction building of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly is finally nearing completion, marked by the recent erection of a dome and a Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) minar (turret) above it.
The installation of the dome and minar, which was a highly technical task, took some time due to intermittent rainfall. However, it has now been successfully completed.
Sources informed that the physical progress of the work, assigned to the main contractor Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd (UPRNN), has reached 90 percent. At present, only painting and finishing works remain.
When asked about the safety of the newly installed dome, sources said it is significantly lighter than the previous design. The new structure has also been vetted and approved by IIT Guwahati and IIT Roorkee.
With most of the structural work completed, attention is now turning to the building’s interiors. A New Delhi-based company has reportedly been selected to carry out the interior work, which is expected to commence soon.
The search for a site to construct the new Assembly building began after the old wooden structure, built in 1937, was destroyed in a fire on January 9, 2001. Since then, Assembly sessions have been held in a hall within the heritage Brookside Bungalow, which once served as a retreat for Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly is optimistic that the new building will be ready to host its first session within this year.
