Kohima, Nov 4 (PTI) Nagaland's capital town Kohima on Saturday got a couple of much-needed Multi Level Car Parking (MLCP) inaugurated by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Governor La Ganesan in presence of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.

With the hilly capital town faced with challenges of regular traffic jams, the state government had proposed for construction of the two multilevel car parking facilities at New NST Area and PR Hill. The project was approved by the Centre in 2009 to be funded by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

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However, due to fund constraints, it was abandoned. After Kohima was included in the Smart City Development project of the Central government, the project was revived in 2015. However, the Covid-19 pandemic again delayed the project, an official said.

Puri, the Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs, said the present government at the Centre has given the North East region, including Nagaland, the highest priority for infrastructural development.

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He said his ministry is willing to extend any support for development - from large capital-intensive projects to small-time investments for the street vendors.

All the urban flagship programmes have been covered in the North East region, he said while more will be done in the days to come.

Nagaland Governor La Ganesan inaugurated the opening of the multi-level parking at PR Hill.

He said that every day the urban growth coupled with increased vehicle usage adds to the parking chaos, affecting day-to-day lives.

The governor said that the inauguration of the multi-level car parking marks a watershed moment in our city's infrastructure development journey.

“It is a step in the right direction towards becoming a smart city – a city with smart infrastructure as well as smart citizens,” he said.

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio thanked the Government of India for sanctioning construction of MLCP in the state capital.

Rio called upon the stakeholders to be more responsible in using and maintaining the parking facilities with better civic sense.

The MLCP in PR Hill has a parking facility for 180 cars and at the New NST area, the space is for 120 cars. Both the MLCPs also have facilities for shopping malls.

The project cost of the MLCPs is around Rs 60 crore.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)