Three years on, multi-storey complex in Nurpur awaits funds for completion

A three-storey shopping-cum-parking complex in the Chogan locality of the town has been lying incomplete for three years due to the non-release of funds. The contractor constructing the complex is yet to receive around Rs 1.50 crore from the project executing agency — the HP Public Works Department (HPPWD).

An ambitious project of the Sports and Youth Affairs Department was awarded to a local contractor on May 2, 2022, by the PWD. As per conditions laid down by the PWD, the project had to be completed in one year. As per the Sports and Youth Affairs Department the estimated cost of the project was Rs 2.84 crore. The construction work was reportedly stopped by the contractor due to the non-release of funds.

According to Suresh Gupta, the government contractor who is building the complex, he has received Rs 1.30 crore in three-and-half years from the HPPWD and the department concerned is yet to clear outstanding amount to the tune of Rs 1.50 crore.

He said a designated parking lot with 38 slots was constructed on the ground floor, whereas 34 and 36 shops had been constructed, on the first and second floors, respectively. The contractor said 14 shops were complete in all respects and ready for auction. The work on the project would not resume until the payment was cleared, he added.

The multi-storey complex, proposed during the tenure of Rakesh Pathania, the then minister in the Jai Ram government, is being built adjacent to the indoor stadium. Given its prime location along the Pathankot-Mandi NH-154, the project holds significant commercial potential. It was planned that several illegal kiosks along the NH would be shifted to these shops.

The Sports and Youth Affairs Department had the plan to lease out each shop at a minimum of Rs 3 to 4 lakh as advance lease money, along with a monthly rent as finalised in the open auction. The construction cost was to be recovered through the lease money. However, the department has failed to lease out even 14 fully completed shops.

When contacted Ravi Shanker, Kangra District Sports Officer, said Rs 1.55 crore was required for completion of the project and the state government had sanctioned Rs 1 crore, which had been released by the Sports and Youth Affairs Department to the HPPWD on March 27. Asked about the auction of completed shops, he said the auction committee led by its chairman-cum-SDM. Nurpur, was yet to take a final call on the process.