Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has refuted assertions linking the collapse of a retaining wall at Mawdiangdiang on Friday to the construction site of the new Assembly building.”Following my initial investigation and discussions with the Public Works Department (PWD), I have been informed that the collapsed retaining wall is unrelated to the ongoing construction of the main building,” stated Sangma following his site visit on Saturday afternoon.
According to the Chief Minister, it has been clarified that the location where the retaining wall collapsed is inaccessible from the new Assembly building site. “It is situated far downhill on the slope, thus not connected to the ongoing construction. It pertains to a separate project, considerably distant from the city,” he emphasized.
Sangma further clarified that the construction of the retaining wall falls under the purview of the Assembly secretariat, not the PWD. He highlighted that the wall, built approximately two years ago, succumbed to multiple landslides it encountered over time as the primary cause of its collapse.