People’s feedback sought on Shillong Smart City Project

A Correspondent

SHILLONG: To take the forward the implementation of the Shillong Smart City project, citizens of the State have been urged to participate in the “Ease of Living Perception Survey”.

State Urban Affairs Minister Hamletson Dohling on Monday informed that before implementing the various projects, views are being solicited from the various stakeholders.

“Its objective is to get feedback from the people of the State in general and Shillong in particular, on what kind of programmes the citizens would want the government to take up under the Smart City project,” Dohling said.

As part of the Ease of Living Index Assessment, a Citizen Perception Survey is being conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

This assessment exercise will help in directly capturing perception of citizens with respect to quality of life in their cities.

This survey for Shillong, which is being administered online, commenced from February 1 and will end on February 29.

Those interested to give their feedbacks can go online to www.Eol2019.org/citizenfeedback.

The Meghalaya Urban Affairs Minister also said that although Shillong was the 100th city to be identified by the Centre under the project, however it was going ahead than most cities in the country in terms of implementing the various aspects of the smart city.

Dohling also said that the funding pattern for the project would be on 50:50 basis between the Centre and the State.

When asked on the fund constraint being faced by the State Government to implement the project, the minister said that the government would find ways and means to garner funds, including taking loans, besides implementing the projects on a public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

Dohling told reporters that under the Smart City Mission, the government would start with the construction of a new market complex at Laitumkhrah with the cost of Rs 30 crore.

The minister also said the road from Governor’s House to Polo will be converted into a “smart road” under the mission and a detailed project report is being prepared for the project estimated to cost Rs 35 crore.

Another Smart City project worth Rs 80 crore is the construction of a market complex at Polo, close to the newly constructed market complex.

Dohling also said that a world-class iconic structure will be built at Barik junction in an area of around 3.5 acres. The iconic structure will have facilities like parking lot, park, museum, stalls among others.

Smart City Mission

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