Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Friday reviewed the second phase of the decongession of the Shillong city.
Talking to Mediaperson, the Chief Minister said the second phase will be starting as soon as the Model Code of Conduct is over.
In the review meeting, the concerns of parking, non-uniform lane width and recreational space in the city were discussed.
“In the first phase many government land which are lying unused have been transferred or shifted to Urban Affairs and the Urban Affairs have gone ahead and created parking lots like you have seen the one in Wards Lake, in NEIGRIHMS, and then we have tendered out the one in Polo, these have been tendered out and in some places the work have started. Now continuing with that momentum, we have done to different process using more Government property to create more parking lots,” the Chief Minister said.
Traffic congestion in Shillong town has always been a major concern with ever increasing number of vehicles. As part of the second phase more Government lands will be converted to parking lots, transformation of government owned land into public spaces and green zones, discourage on-street parking and establishment of ‘No Parking Zone’.
The Chief Minister also said, the PWD office complex in Barik point will be converted into a large open gathering space for significant state events. He said on August 15 50 metre large National flag will be hoisted at this venue.
“Likewise certain Government bungalows will be used for parking vehicles, even Lady Hydari Park also once we are able to shift the animals which we are planning in 3-4 months, we will be converting some areas from there into parking space as well as expanding parts of the civil hospital,” Sangma said.
While a facelift is being given to the city, utmost care is being taken to ensure that the heritage buildings and other infrastructure are preserved. The government is considering refurbishing many structures keeping in mind environmental concerns and sustainability.
“Overall there are lands which are available with certain departments which are not been utilize more efficient manner, we have worked towards rationalising those lands whether in Shillong city or other parts of the state,” he added.
As part of the interventions, multi-level car parking is being planned with capacity of 1254 in different parts of Shillong city, namely., Motrphran, Polo – Phase I, Additional Secretariat, Mawkhar, Polo – Phase II, Laitumkhrah market, Anjalee, Mowlonghat and Khlieh Iew.
“ We do expect that when that happens there will be much more open space, much more parking space and vehicles that are being parked on the road are being parked in the parking spaces and there will be space to expand the road. Eg we will be expanding the roads, creating footpaths from Shillong club all the way going up to the Governor House junction and all the way going to the pinewood junction. So there the land of the tourism and the forest department in wards lake we will take some space from there extend the boundary wall and create space for walking space to the pedestrian so that people will have some place to walk. So this kind of micro planning is done and we have seen all the presentations today,” the CM said after the meeting.
Several key projects are in the pipeline now which includes, Wards Lake Promenade, Redevelopment of Polo junction, polo riverfront development, Shillong Peak Ropeway Project and new road connecting Laban and 4 ½ mile.