Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma, on Wednesday, informed that the High Powered Committee (HPC) has approved the revised estimate for the construction of new Meghalaya Legislative Assembly building which is likely to be completed within this year.
Stating that the new Assembly Building construction cost has escalated by Rs 200 crore, Sangma said the initially the cost for the construction of the project was estimated at Rs 141.14 crore.
“From the earlier Rs 141 crore, now the total cost has gone up to Rs 200 crore,” the Speaker said.
It May be mentioned that the completion of the project has been delayed after the dome of the new Assembly building collapsed on May 22, last year.
While refereeing to the construction of the new Assembly building, the Speaker said that the progress is there although there are some technical issues which are unavoidable. He said that the clearing of the debris and the approval of the new dome design have all been completed.
“Now, the work has started and we are hopeful that the Assembly building will be completed within a year’s time,” he said.
Sangma also added, “Because of all those incidents that had happened…because of hasty decisions, I don’t want to risk any more. Therefore, within a year, we should be able to complete it.”
He said that the construction of a new dome has also started. “It is slightly modified but it is lighter unlike the earlier design which weighed around 3,000 metric tons but now that has been reduced considerably.”