Dispur to remain Assam capital

GUWAHATI, May 2: The Prafulla Kumar Mahanta Government has finally decided to make Dispur the State’s permanent Capital. This will put an end to the controversy and uncertainty which had begun way back in 1972, following the carving out of Meghalaya, which took with it the original capital Shillong.

The Mahanta Cabinet last week decided to start immediately the construction of the permanent capital Noro which is estimated to cost a whopping Rs 1,830 crore. The scheme had been submitted to the Planning Commission, in November, 1997. The decision to make Dispur, a locality within Guwahati, the permanent capital however dates back to 1993. The then Congress government had floated tenders calling architectural firms to submit designs for the new complex, but the whole process was stalled for about three years with the local architectural firms challenging the decision in the court. The plea of the local architects was that the Master Plan for Guwahati city did not mention a permanent capital within citylimits, and the procedure of calling tenders was not in accordance with the rules. The case was finally closed with the Supreme Court upholding the decision of the state government to convert Dispur into a permanent site. The Mahanta government has recently received Rs 60 crore to begin the task, with the Secretariat complex identified as the first phase of work.

Chief Minister Mahanta said that while the first instalment of Rs 60 crore had arrived, the process of selecting firms for it had already begun. The foundation stone was expected to be laid within September this year.

The Capital of Assam was hurriedly shifted to Dispur from Shillong in 1972. The then Chief Minister Sarat Chandra Sinha announced in the State Assembly, on June 7 that year, that the subsequent Assembly session would be held in Guwahati. Sarat Chandra Sinha personally went around Guwahati to find a suitable place. He chose some tea warehouses along with some vacant space, which were immediately acquired to hold the next Assemblysession.

It was Assembly Speaker Jibakanta Gogoi who made Dispur the permanent Capital in January, 1992. The Mahanta government, meanwhile, had already begun serving notice to occupants of several hundred dilapidated old Assam-type quarters in the capital complex to make room for the new secretariat complex. But the Planning Commission is yet to sanction the additional Rs 1,830 crore for completing the entire Capital complex.