The ill-fated new Assembly building will now only be complete by July or August next year, Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma informed today.
Sangma, Deputy Speaker Timothy D Shira and senior civil servants inspected the site of the new building, which has been beset by construction problems.
The biggest of these was the dramatic collapse of the under-construction dome in May 2022. Luckily, there was no loss of life in the incident, only loss of face for the government. Nevertheless, it decided to dispense with any scruples and gave the go-ahead for a second gigantic dome to be built over the structure.
Following the inspection-cum-review meeting at Mawdiangdiang, the Speaker reaffirmed his commitment to completing the project at the earliest but said that the building would only be ready by the monsoon of next year. That still gives him hope that the Autumn Session of the Assembly will be able to be held in the new digs.
Although the building style is anything but traditional (at least in the exterior shots seen so far), “traditional colour” will be added to the building, an official press release stated, though what exactly that means was not spelled out.
Addressing a question about the building’s dome structure, the Speaker said that all debris from the previous unlucky iteration has been cleared and structural layout work is now in progress. He explained that the new dome structure will be constructed using prefabricated steel, with the prefabricated steel portions expected to arrive this month and in January. Installation will then take place in February and conclude by April.
The new dome will be vetted by both IIT Guwahati and IIT Roorkee.
Sangma also informed that the Union Ministry of the Development of North East Region (DoNER) has given its assurance in principle to sanction the second phase of the building and the preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) is currently underway. Expressing optimism, he mentioned that he anticipates the sanctioning of the second phase within the current financial year.
