The Times of India 11.11.2010
MCD to start shifting HQ today
NEW DELHI: Several months after its inauguration, Municipal Corporation of Delhi is finally going to initiate the process of shifting its headquarters to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre located in Minto Road from Thursday onwards. A special puja was held there on Wednesday before the shifting started.
The civic agency is going to move from Town Hall, in Chandni Chowk, to civic centre in four phases. While the process will start from Thursday, the shifting will continue till December 8.
According to an MCD office order, the civic agency will first move most of the key departments, including health, education, engineering and house tax to the new building. Offices of the mayor, leader of House and leader of opposition will continue to function from the old Town Hall building for now. “Those floors, where furnishing and electrical works has been completed will be occupied first. Departments which have a lot of public dealings have been kept on the lower floors,” said an MCD official.
The civic centre is the tallest building in the city comprising of 28 floors and has been built at a cost of Rs 650 crore. “We will start with shifting of education, horticulture, IT, law department, land and estate, etc, on Thursday. The shifting in phase-I will only be completed by November 17. The process of shifting offices of senior officials like additional commissioners, MCD commissioner and that of the deliberative wing, will be taken up at the last stage which will happen from December 2 to 8.”
The existing MCD headquarters in Town Hall is expected to be turned into a heritage hotel or a museum. “We will definitely construct a museum in Town Hall even if the building is put to other uses,” said leader of House, Subhash Arya.
The building was inaugurated by Union home minister P Chidambarm on April 22. Its construction had been hit by delays with the MCD missing several deadlines for shifting its offices. During the monsoon season, there also were complaints of waterlogging inside the building.
The building is expected to cater to 20,000 footfalls a day, will bring under one roof the deliberative wing and different offices of the civic body, which looks after 96% of areas of Delhi. The income tax department will also shift into one part of the building.
The civic centre building has an auditorium with capacity of 1,000 seats, an art gallery, restaurants etc. The bidding for taking over the maintenance and functioning of these structures is yet to take place.
