Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Wednesday said construction of the Shillong ropeway project will start by November, this year.
Speaking to reporters, Lyngdoh said the project starts from the terminal point at Madan Laban towards Lumparing and to the view point of Shillong peak and “we will have 12 cables initially and the engineering will be done as per European standards.”
He said the government will float tenders in the month of May and likely the work will start by November of this year.
The minister also informed that he had visited the Orchid Resort, Mawkasiang and few areas need further enhancement and which along with officials of the tourism department we will be initiating a few major interventions in the project.
He further informed the department of tourism along with Asian Development Bank will be initiating new projects and to begin with Shillong and Sohra circuits will each get funding of Rs 70 crore and these projects have been initiated.
Meanwhile, Lyngdoh informed that the government is committed to declare Khyndailad as a pedestrian zone.
“Our commitment will be to have at least one pedestrian zone immediately and that is Khyndailad. I also had a meeting with the chief minister and he is fully in line with the need to declare Khyndailad as a pedestrian zone,” Lyngdoh said.
He said some access to local residents which will be on the basis of car passes will be issued but the entire area will be pedestrianized.
According to him, the people who suffered most in Shillong are pedestrians as you have hawkers, you have motorists using every way and there is limited scope for people to walk around.
The minister further informed that they have already started declaration of parts of Shillong as no honking zones.
“We are in the process. The district administration and the police are in constant touch and from the tourism department, we already started by declaring Orchid, Umiam as no honking zone and similarly other units of the tourism department will also be declared as no honking zones,” he said.