Itanagar MLA Techi Kaso during a meeting held to finalize the GIS-based master plan for the Itanagar capital region (ICR) on Tuesday, suggested giving way to construction of new buildings in place of the old and dilapidated government quarters in order to accommodate more number of families.
It is indeed a good suggestion and should be seriously pursued.
Most of the old government quarters are in dilapidated condition and people are taking advantage of the situation by demolishing such buildings in order to illegally capture government land.
The state government should identify all such government quarters, especially those old Assam-type buildings and replace them with modern apartments to accommodate more number of employees. It will not only provide accommodations to a larger number of government employees but also stop the encroachment of government land.
There is a serious crunch of government land, especially in the ICR. The government has to often depend on private landowners to execute the major infrastructure projects. This shoots up the cost of the projects as land donors have to be paid compensation.
The state government should immediately constitute a team to identify government quarters in various colonies and sectors. After that, a plan should be worked out to demolish all the old buildings and construct new modern apartments.