Shillong: The Meghalaya government will invest about Rs 5,000 crore in building New Shillong, which will be the twin of the hill city, over the next five years.

New Shillong will be built as a futuristic and sustainable city that will be a hub of knowledge, creative, cultural and sports industries. The state administration, including the secretariat and the directorates, will be moved to the twin city.

The process of preparing master plans and detailed project reports has been initiated.

Besides, the state government plans to address the issues of congestion, waste management and beautification of Tura,

Jowai and other urban settlements.

A blueprint to comprehensively address traffic congestion issues in Shillong is being implemented. It has procured 30 buses at a cost of Rs 10 crore under the shared school bus system. Additional interventions – such as improvement of junctions, augmentation of parking, strengthening of the public transport system and introduction of electric buses will be initiated in 2023-24.

However, speaking during the budget session last month, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that many city schools were unwilling to start bus service. He also said that the government did not intend to make the school bus service mandatory.

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