The Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) is further behind on the tourism development project at Lum Sohpetbneng than it is willing to admit, Right to Information (RTI) activist Disparsing Rani said today.
Lum Sohpetbneng is an important religious site in the indigenous Khasi faith, being the location where heaven and Earth were connected.
Rani, through an RTI request, discovered that the MTDC claims to have completed 94 per cent of a tourism project at the site, which will encompass a sound and light show, storm water drainage system, mountain biking facility, solid waste management, landscaping, etc.
All of this work was expected to cost Rs 18.82 crore under the central government’s Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The MTDC, through its nine contractors, was expected to finish construction 18 months from the start of the work, which began in February 2019. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic will almost certainly be used as a reason for the delay.
“The MTDC claims that 94 per cent of the work has been completed,” Rani told reporters today. “But a visit to the site tells a different story.”
New buildings have developed leaks and there are other serious questions “about how the project has been implemented.”
The Seng Khasi Kmie, which is responsible for the site, handed over land in two different chunks of almost 20 acres to the MTDC for the project free of cost.
Under the terms of the deal, the MTDC will create the tourism infrastructure but these, once complete, will be operated by the Seng Khasi Kmie, which will also retain ownership of the land. The religious-cultural organisation was also to appoint a technical official to supervise the work on behalf of the Seng Khasi.
