On Meghalaya dome collapse, CM says project ‘highly complex’

Shillong: Following the collapse of the steel dome of the under-construction Assembly building on May 21, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday claimed that it was a ‘highly-complex project’ and the government is now more determined to complete the project.

“The construction of the new Assembly Building was not a simple project. It was a highly-technical project. The dome-collapse incident at the new Assembly building is is very unfortunate and tragic. We’ve been working very hard to complete the project,” Sangma said.

The chief minister added that after completion of the inquiry, the government would be in position to say whether the tragedy could have been averted or not.

Worth mentioning here, a High Powered Committee (HPC) on Tuesday decided to constitute a third-party audit to investigate the dome collapse incident at the new Meghalaya Assembly Building in Mawdiangdiang, Shillong.

Urging citizens to understand the complexities of the project, Sangma said, “There are a lot of technicalities involved in the construction of this building and hence such a project was never tried in Northeast or even the eastern part of India.”

One has to keep in mind that such construction is not simple, he said, adding that the said dome weighs hundreds of metric tons.

“The height of this dome is even higher than the dome that is there at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. We tried it for the first time and it would have been an iconic structure. And now, we have encountered a setback but we will keep moving forward and complete this project,” the chief minister said.

We will review the entire situation and ensure that a third party audit is done, he said. “Necessary action will be taken after we get the audit report and decide how we can move forward with the project,” he said.

“I can assure the people of the state that we are now more determined to complete the project. We will do it and the challenges are there, but the challenges will not bring us down,” said Sangma.

Also read: Tripura: By-polls to four vacant Assembly seats announced