Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday reviewed the progress of the construction of the new Legislative Assembly building, and said it would be completed by March 2021.

Sangma on Thursday held video conference with the officials overseeing the construction work of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly building at Mawdiangdiang in New Shillong.

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After the video conference, the chief minister in a Twitter message informed that the structural part of construction of the building will be complete within this year, and the interior works will take about eight months for completion.

The state of Meghalaya is without a permanent state assembly building after the British-era building was destroyed in a devastating fire in 2001.

Since then, the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly functioned in the State Central Library auditorium. Subsequently, it shifted to a cultural complex in Rilbong.

Earlier, Meghalaya PWD Minister, Comingone Ymbon had informed that the completion of the new Assembly building may be slightly delayed because works had stopped for more than two months because of COVID19 pandemic.

Ymbon had assured that the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly project would be completed by 2022.

But, chief minister Conrad K. Sangma’s tweet assurance to complete the project by March 2021 is definitely good news for the people of Meghalaya.

Construction of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly had started in June 2019. The building is being constructed by Uttar Pradesh-based Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd, and the total cost is Rs 127 crore.

Initially, the Meghalaya government had prepared a budget estimate of Rs 145 crore for the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, but the firm who got the contract, quoted an amount of Rs 127 crore, about Rs 18 crore lower than the estimated amount.