Shillong, Sept 16: Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) has revealed anomalies in the construction of the Assembly dome quoting portions of a report accessed from different government departments by the MPYC
Briefing reporters on Friday at Congress Bhavan, the MPYC leaders Adrian Chyne Mylliem ( president) and Banphira Basaiawmoit ( vice president) said Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had mentioned that the dome of the Assembly collapsed due to the weight of the structure.
“Here we would like to ask the chief minister to place the inquiry report by the IIT Guwahati in public domain so that we may be aware of the reality behind the collapse. Whom is he trying to save by stating the dome collapsed due to the structure?”, Basaiawmoit said.
“We would again say that there is rampant corruption in the construction of the Assembly building where it has been noticed that there is clear failure in maintaining the technical design structure which was seriously compromised by the contractor. What was the PWD Engineer in-charge of the building doing during the whole construction period whom we have lately seen campaigning for the party the chief minister heads”, he said.
The MPYC said the contractor responsible for the construction of the Assembly building, Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN), has sub-contracted the project to Badri Rai Company (BRC).
“We fail to understand how BRC has been doing this whole project where the NIT of PWD clearly states that only 40% of the work can be sub-contracted. BRC, which was initially rejected by the PWD, as we understand, could not qualify for the same contract work, but that they came in through the backdoor. BRC is seen to be highly favoured by the current MDA government wherein they have been awarded multiple projects within the state which are of public importance. Examples include: New Polo Market, Bajengdoba Road, Stadium in Tura and the new construction of the MTC in Police Bazaar. How safe are we under this contractor with whom we have seen making major compromises in the construction quality as seen with the dome? “the MPYC said.
Basaiawmoit said corruption is rampant in Meghalaya.
“Talk of any of the state department, you will find manipulation and corruption happening in a big way, and our chief minister will be defending very loudly, instead of penalising and fixing responsibilities”, he said.
Recently there have been reports by the media of many departments coming into the limelight for the wrong reasons: Home Department (Police), Health (Covid expenditure), Education, Power, Social Welfare and PWD among others, the MPYC said.
To a question, Basaiawmoit said the Assembly Speaker should also take responsibility for the collapse of the dome.
