SHILLONG: The Union Ministry of Rural Development recently approved an amount of Rs 231 crore for 75 road projects proposed to be implemented in Meghalaya under Phase VII of the Pradhan Mantri Graham Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

A senior government official on Monday informed that the funds were approved during a recent meeting of the Empowered Committee in New Delhi. “We are proposing to cover a total road length of 267 km under Phase VII. We are awaiting the sanction of the funds,” the official said. He also informed that the State Government is currently preparing the DPRs for black topping of various kutcha roads under PMGSY.

The Planning Commission on Thursday approved a Plan outlay of Rs 3,650 crore for Manipur for 2013-14, an increase of 4.3 per cent from the previous fiscal.

In 2012-13, the state government had received a Plan size of Rs 3,500 crore. The plan size was finalised here in a meeting between Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh.

The sudden drying up of one of the underground water source in Mawlai Mawdatbaki has raised serious questions on the overuse of ground water resources by way of drilling of deep tubes in residentia

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising of seven organizations from Garo Hills held a public rally in Williamnagar on Tuesday to demand that the Meghalaya Government halt the Daribokgre dam pro

TURA: The Garo Students Union and several organizations have formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to halt the government from going ahead with its water supply project at Daribokgre village after a spot visit to the dam site on Saturday where they met the parliamentary secretary for PHE and department officials.

The North Tura MLA and parliamentary secretary Noverfield R Marak along with other NGOs and officers had on Saturday carried out an inspection of the dam site which will tap the water from the Daribokgre stream for Tura.

SHILLONG: The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) will take a call on the quantum of penalty to be imposed on cement plants which have violated the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act,

SHILLONG: The Gauhati High Court has asked the Meghalaya Government to strictly implement the directives of the Ministry of Environment & Forest pertaining to the violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 by cement companies located in Jaintia hills.

The Court also directed the State Government to undertake a joint inspection of the remaining 1,140 hectares of land acquired or under the process of acquisition by the said cement companies to ascertain the status of forests and to submit the report within three months.

SHILLONG: Concerned over the frequent accidents in the coal mines of the State leading to death of coal labourers, the State Labour Department has decided to organise sensitization cum training programmes in East Jaintia Hills, where a large number of coal mines are located.

Coal labourers continue to perish in the coal mines of Meghalaya with many labourers having lost their lives in the ‘deadly’ coal mines across the State in the last one year.

TURA: In view of the severe water crisis in Tura and surrounding areas, West Garo Hills District Administration held a meeting with the lines departments, civil societies, Church leaders and locality development committees on Friday afternoon to discuss an urgent action plan to tide over the current water crisis.

The emergency meeting was necessitated amidst reports of fights erupting out of frustration over water scarcity, wanton wastage of water and illegal tampering of pipes by unauthorized plumbers.

Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Secretary T Lyngwa on Sunday informed that the last slot of Government sanctioned SPTS buses would be hitting the streets of the capital in May.

Speaking to The Shillong Times here on Sunday, Lyngwa said, “Twenty more buses will be coming by the first week of May.”
It was in July 2011 that the Government introduced the Government run buses sanctioned under the JNNURM and since then the number of buses have been increased but the bigger buses have not yet reached the State.