New bldg for ministers to be ready in 100 days

Mumbai: The new five-storeyed building of the state secretariat, being built at a cost of ₹109.82 crore, will be completed in a record 100 days, sources in the public works department (PWD) told Hindustan Times. The work order for the building, which will house three ministers each on the five floors, was issued two weeks ago and it will be built using pre-fabricated technology.

The state government is constructing the new building within the state secretariat premises owing to space crunch in the Mantralaya and its annex.

“The ground plus five-story building will accommodate 15 ministers, with each minister getting a 2,000-sqft office. Every floor will also have a common conference room,” said an official from the public works department.

“This would be second building to be constructed by the PWD in record time using pre-fabricated technology. Last year, we had constructed the Pune police commissioner’s ground plus two storeyed building in 151 days,” said the official.

The contractor for the building – which will have a glass façade and be the open-to-sky structure for better ventilation – was chosen from among four bidders. The target for completing it is July 15.

“We have taken it up as a challenge,” said the PWD official. “The building is designed in such a way that we have saved nine existing trees.”

The building was originally planned as a ground plus seven storeyed structure, but the heritage committee denied permission citing height restrictions.

“We are short of space in both buildings at Mantralaya and some ministers have been accommodated on the seventh floor of the annex building with less space. To accommodate them, we had to shift the offices. The new building will help us with an additional space of over 8,224 square metres,” said the official quoted earlier.