Members of the Meghalaya legislative assembly on Tuesday observed a minute's silence to pay homage to those who lost their lives in the earthquake and tsunami ha ravaged Japan.
"We convey our heartfelt condolences to the people of Japan for the misfortune that has befallen them," said Charles Pyngrope, speaker, as he expressed concern over the "nuclear crisis", which had added to the woes of Japan.
State urban affairs minister FS Cajee on Tuesday said the government would impose restrictions on highrises and take action against violators of construction regulations.
"No one is above law. The government will follow the laid down norms and restrictions will be imposed on construction of highrises," Cajee said in the assembly.
Replying to a query by an opposition MLA, the minister added, "We are concerned about the vulnerability of buildings here and are going to take measures to ensure the safety of people."
Discussing some construction guidelines, he said, "For LIG/EWS income housing, 6.6 m is the height permissible from ground-level to the ceiling. For other buildings like residential, apartment, commercial, education and government buildings, 42 ft is permissible according to norms of the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA)."
Cajee added that an expert committee of the Union ministry of home affairs had reviewed the town planning laws in the country to mitigate the effects of a natural disaster.
"The government is following norms laid down by the committee. Architects, design agencies, engineers and developers are required to be register with the MUDA," said the minister.
He also added that the government was conducting an enquiry to ascertain if any building construction in the city has violated the norms laid down by the MUDA.