Urban News

The Hindu      14.12.2010

Delhi gets a new convention centre

Photo: S. Subramanium

Landmark:Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at the inauguration of the New Delhi City Centre on Monday.

NEW DELHI: A swank new convention centre fashioned on the lines of Vigyan Bhavan and constructed by the New Delhi Municipal Council was unveiled at the New Delhi City Centre Complex by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday.

The centre boasts of state-of-the-art facilities including modern high definition projection and sound system, a main auditorium, six conference halls, a cafeteria and central air-conditioning.

After inaugurating the centre, Mr. Chidambaram stated that the NDMC should use this convention centre not only for government meetings and functions but also for social events such as cultural programmes, plays and exhibitions. “The city, citizen and civic sense are related to each other and each has their respective responsibilities for making a better society. It is the general duty of the NDMC to set an example of better urbanisation with good governance,” he added.

Ms. Dikshit said that the convention centre was the last part of New Delhi City Centre and now this centre would become an iconic building complex in the heart of city where citizens of Delhi would be able to showcase their cultural or social activities.

According to NDMC Secretary Santosh D. Vaidya, the scheme for construction of New Delhi City Centre was approved in 1969 and the design was chosen after an all-India architectural competition was held.

The scheme was envisaged to be taken up in two phases. In the first phase, a 20-storey building block was proposed and in the second phase two blocks comprising a multi-storeyed block, auditorium, art gallery and library were planned. The work on the first phase was completed in 1981 and it was popularly known as the Palika Kendra which currently houses the headquarters of the NDMC. The 10-storey complex adjacent to the convention centre was completed in 2008.

According to Mr. Vaidya, the convention centre represents a “rare blend of modernity and heritage”: “From the outside the building façade and curves resonate the architecture of Jantar Mantar. Inside, the building houses a modern auditorium with a seating capacity of approximately 300 persons, six conferencing halls of various capacities, a business centre and a cafeteria. Since the centre is located in the heart of the city it would certainly add to the profile of the New Delhi area. This new building complex represents an edifice undergoing continuous growth and marks an important milestone in the history of the civic body.”

NDMC vice-chairperson Tajdar Babar and members Karan Singh Tanwar and Mukesh Bhatt were among those present on this occasion.

Hindustan Times  13.12.2010

None of the beautification projects planned for seven gardens in the city in this year’s budget have taken off. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had budgeted Rs 18 crore for these garden beautification and development projects for the year 2010-2011. Civic officials said the reason for the delay is that this time the gardens department issued tenders for the project. Until now, the planning and designing department would issue the tenders.

“Since the gardens department didn’t have experience there were some errors in the tenders so they need to re-tender the projects,” a senior civic official said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

With the civic elections in 2012, corporators are not too happy with the BMC’s slack attitude. In an internal review meeting held on these beautification projects, members of the civic standing committee were told that due to delays in finalising the designs and other elements of the plan, no project for which budgetary provisions were made has taken off.

Additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta said that they will not let the budgetary allocation for the project lapse and will issue the tenders by the end of this month.

Corporators in the standing committee said there are many gardens in the city that the BMC has spent money to beautify but due to neglect from contractors these gardens wear a barren look. Officials said the civic body does not have the money to maintain these gardens and that they are not sure whether the garden department will get additional money during the budget revision. “We are not sure whether we will get money for maintaining these gardens because we don’t know which head to withdraw money from,” the official said.

Shiv Sena corporator Yeshwant Jadhav said: “Contractors, who are awarded the job, are supposed to maintain these gardens and provide security but they don’t do it.” Corporators added that in a bid to beautify the garden, the contractor ends up constructing concrete structures on a major part of the garden and neglects the green space.