11 yrs on, work to start on UT Secretariat building

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 22

After a delay of over 10 years,  the  UT Administration has finally decided to  start the  process  for the  construction  of the  UT Secretariat building. Lalit Sharma, a former Adviser to the UT Administrator, had laid the foundation stone of the building on September 25, 2007, in Sector 9, but the project got delayed for various reasons.

The project has been conceived as the first five-star-rated green building of the city and a number of features have been incorporated in its design to reduce carbon footprint.

The delay in the construction has increased the cost  of the  project. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had  recently  approved the    project  at an approximate cost  of Rs  50 crore.

Mukesh Anand, Special Secretary, Engineering Department, said the department would float tenders  next week  and it was hopeful of completing the building in three  years.    

The department  had appointed  a consultant for the interior designing, while the overall design of the project was  prepared by the Architecture Department. The state-of-the-art building will  have several green features such as “earth air tunnel-forced ventilation system, evaporating cooling system, natural lighting and ventilation for a comfortable ambience, rooftop garden, water harvesting system and a solar photo-voltaic power plant.

The offices of the Adviser to the UT Administrator, six UT secretaries and staff of senior officials, besides meeting rooms, an auditorium and a dispensary have been planned in the new building. The seven-storeyed building will be constructed  on 2.72 acres between the existing additional Deluxe building and the Chandigarh Housing Board building in Sector 9.

The UT Standing Finance Committee had given administrative approval for the project in 2014.