Shillong, July 15: In the wake of concern over sluggish progress in some projects in New Shillong Township (NST), Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar will conduct an on-site inspection of the projects on July 30.
While most projects are on track, a handful have fallen behind schedule, Dhar admitted while speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
“Some of the projects are in good progress, but a few seem a little bit slow. I have tentatively fixed July 30 for my own inspection. We will try to resolve all the issues,” he said.
Earlier, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had flagged the delays in these projects to Urban Affairs department.
“We got some information from the Chief Minister’s Office that a few projects are moving slowly. They are not very far behind, but the response time needs to improve,” Dhar said.
He added that the department will push contractors to accelerate work.
“We will request them to speed up at the earliest. During the inspection, I will ask contractors to follow up on their respective projects,” he said.
Citing Meghalaya’s climate as the main challenge, Dhar said the state has only 6-7 month working window due to heavy rains.
“As for payments, there is no delay from our side. We release funds on time. Contractors say rain is causing delays, so we will coordinate with them accordingly,” he said.
On action against defaulting contractors, Dhar said penalty provisions are not uniform.
“The clause is different from tender to tender. Obviously there are penalty clauses. If a contractor delays without reason, they will have to face penalties as per their agreement,” he said.
He clarified that funds are not an issue and most projects are still within their stipulated timelines.
“There is no problem in releasing the amount. If they go beyond the time limit, they will have to go for project renewal. As of now, all projects are within the time limit, but some are a bit slow,” Dhar added.
