Shillong, Sept 11: The state government is waiting for response from the Centre on its request for an additional fund of Rs 100 crore in order to complete the incomplete Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS) phase – III project which got started 10 years ago in 2008.

“We would need another Rs 100 crore to ensure completion of the GSWSS phase-III project a proposal was submitted to the Centre in May this year,” Minister in-charge PHE Samlin Malngiang told reporters on Tuesday.

Malngiang said that the support was sought from the Centre due to cost overrun.

“The project was sanctioned 10 years ago in 2008 and we decided to propose a revised estimate for this project,” the PHE Minister said.

The project was funded at Rs 193.50 crore under the erstwhile Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM) and now it is known as the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to improve water supply in Shillong.

The Central share was fixed at Rs 174.15 crore and the state share at Rs 19.35 crore. However the state was penalized few years ago in which around Rs 18 crore was deducted out of Rs 174.15 crore.

“The state has to find out ways and means to include the project in the state’s schemes if the Centre turns down the request for additional fund,” he said.

On the progress of work, Malngiang informed that 80 per cent of the work has been completed and the PHE department is waiting for the Public Works Department (PWD) to grant the no-objection certificate (NOC) to dig the roads for laying of pipelines.

A joint coordination committee between the PHE and PWD was also formed to look into this matter, and it was also decided that the PHE would deposit its fund with the PWD for taking up various restoration works after digging the roads for laying of pipelines.

Malngiang also said that the government would ensure that the project is completed at the earliest in order to remove the problem of water scarcity in Greater Shillong.