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.