The general public of Meghalaya may find it shocking, maddening and embarrassing that the dome of the new Assembly building collapsed spectacularly over the weekend but Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma described it today as a “small setback” while promising that the dome will rise again.
“We had a small setback and we will review the situation, we will ensure that the third party audit is done,” the CM said. “Necessary action should be taken if the audit reports come out in whatever way they come out and, more importantly, we will find out how we should move forward.”
Questions have been raised as to the soundness of the structure, the planning and what oversight the Public Works Department provided. However, Sangma today sought to make excuses by saying that the project is not a simple one.
“What happened is definitely something that is unfortunate and tragic. We’ve been working very hard to make this happen and if we ask if it was avoidable, well we don’t know. Let the inquiry report come,” he said.
The dome, Sangma added, was to be higher than that of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. “There is no project in the whole of the North East or even the whole eastern part of India like this because of the technical complications.”
That only begs the question as to why the government would choose such a design for a small state with limited resources that is prone to earthquakes and heavy rainfall.
The answer, it seems, is that the government wanted “an iconic structure”, even if it appears to be alien to traditional architecture.
No matter the criticism the government has had to bear, it is determined to press on with the project, that is once the audit report has come in; until then, work on the structure will be paused.
“I can assure the people of the state that we are more determined to ensure that this project moves forward. we’re more determined to make sure it is completed. We will do it and the challenges are there but the challenges will not bring us down,” Sangma said.
