Shillong, Nov 4: Traffic is Shillong’s number one problem. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma offered part of the answer, two new automated multilevel car parks at Mawkhar and Motphran adding 200 parking spaces in the heart of the city.
“Traffic is most probably the number one issue in Shillong, and we hear this not just from our citizens, but even from our tourists,” Sangma said.
He said a drone and satellite-based mobility study showed piecemeal measures would not work. “While we are creating no-parking zones, we are not creating parking resources. If you want to stop somebody from parking somewhere, you have to give that person the option to park somewhere else,” he said.
The two facilities, worth close to Rs 39 crore, are the second such project after the Additional Secretariat car park, which Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had hailed as a model for hill areas.
The Motphran facility, built at over Rs 16 crore, is a fully mechanised eight-floor system for more than 110 cars, aimed at cutting on-street parking around Bara Bazar.
The Mawkhar facility, built at over Rs 22 crore, offers more than 85 car parks over five levels, along with three office floors for the District School Education Office. It has an average retrieval time of about three minutes, 15 kW rooftop solar and an Integrated Building Management System.
Both were built by Shillong Smart City Limited on a Design, Build, Operate, Maintain and Transfer model.
Sangma said many more are in the pipeline. Under the state’s parking policy, the government will fund up to Rs 1 lakh per vehicle for landowners and communities who build parking, while ownership and management stay with them.
“Building something is one part; running and maintaining it is a different part,” he said, urging officials to ensure manpower, training and SOPs.
He added that the majority of the Secretariat is expected to shift to the new administrative city towards the end of next year, further decongesting Shillong. Works worth close to Rs 30 crore are under way at Ïewduh, including a covered pedestrian stretch.
He called on citizens to partner the government in keeping the city clean and in welcoming athletes for the National Games next year.
Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar thanked the Rangbah Shnong, Seng Longkmie, Seng Samla and residents for their support, and apologised for the disruption during construction, which went on from early morning till midnight in one of the city’s most congested areas.
He said a similar car park is under construction at Polo, and anyone with vacant land in a congested area can offer it for the government to develop into parking.
“This parking lot is one of its kind in our state. Just as you helped us during its construction, we require you to help us again in order to maintain it,” Dhar said. He added around Rs 60 crore has been allotted to repair and beautify roads and railings across Shillong. “We aspire to be one of the cleanest cities.”
Earlier, Shillong Smart City CEO Saloni Verma said the government has commissioned eight multi level car parks across Shillong with a combined capacity of around 1,000 vehicles, to make better use of scarce land in the hill city.
