Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider state-specific projects as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission to take forward the development agenda of the government in Meghalaya.
Sangma met the Prime Minister in New Delhi today and informed him about several new initiatives taken up by the State to combat climate change and apprised him on two critical road projects for Northeast.
In a statement to the media in Shillong from the Chief Minister’s office, the Chief Minister informed the PM about construction of a series of cascading small multipurpose reservoirs that will enable the impounding of the 3,700 mm of annual rainfall that the State receives.
“The conserved water will be used for varied purposes including drinking, irrigation, fisheries and tourism development. An externally aided project of 100 million USD has been proposed to the Department of Economic Affairs to fund this ambitious project,” the Chief Minister added.
He also informed the Prime Minister that cadre of natural resource management volunteers are being raised in each of the 6500 villages of the State, which is part of the Meghalaya State Water Mission.
“This cadre will be trained and empowered so that they are able to integrate traditional knowledge and modern technology towards solving the challenges of climate change,” the Chief Minister said.
He also informed the Prime Minister that Meghalaya envisages to host an international conference on climate change and natural resource management with participation of all the North Eastern Chief Ministers and other distinguished personalities in the field.
“The conference will provide a platform for showcasing the various climate related good practices in the region and will bring out an action plan for climate change reversal and mitigation. It will also identify a cadre of youth from the region, who will play the leadership role in taking forward the agenda and will represent the region and the country in the COP26 Summit at Glasgow, UK,” the Chief Minister informed.
He also sought for a convenient time from the Prime Minister, so that Meghalaya can hold the event in the next three months.
The Chief Minister also apprised the Prime Minister on two critical projects for Northeast – (a) Silchar – Mahendraganj – Hili road, which also includes a bridge over river Brahmaputra and (b) 8 – laning of Guwahati – Shillong – Dawki – Sylhet – Chittagong Highway.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also expressed his gratitude to the Government of India and Prime Minister for providing an amount of Rs. 5,105 crore from the share of central taxes and Rs. 1,279 crore as Revenue Gap Grant for the next financial year.
