The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Collectorate to be shifted in June

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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Collectorate to be shifted in June

Special Correspondent

Says Minister after site review; but officials remain sceptical about the dates

— Photo: S. Mahinsha

Reviewing the progress: Law Minister M. Vijayakumar along with District Collector Sanjay Kaul visiting the new Civil Station complex being built at Kudappanakunnu in the city on Friday.

Thiruvananthapuram: The district Collectorate will be shifted to the new civil station complex at Kudappanakunnu in June, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs M. Vijayakumar announced here on Friday.

Addressing reporters after visiting the project site for a review, he said the work on two blocks of the civil station complex would be completed by June. “The inauguration of the first phase has been planned to coincide with the second anniversary celebrations of the LDF government. We have worked out a schedule to ensure that the work is completed by that period”.

Asked how soon the building would be ready for occupation, he said moves were on to shift the Collectorate immediately after the inauguration. However, officials remain sceptical about the June deadline. They feel that it would take at least four months for the building to be ready for occupation.

The Minister said project officials were meeting every week at the Collectorate to review the progress of the work and iron out problems. “The government has committed adequate funds for the project but there are coordination problems that have to be addressed,” he said. “Ever since the work on the civil station complex started in 2005, there have been setbacks one after the other. The administrative sanction for the Rs.11-crore project was accorded only in 2007. While the Kerala State Construction Corporation is building one portion of the complex, the other portion has been entrusted to private contractors,” he explained.

Mr. Vijayakumar said the road to the complex from Kudappanakunnu would be completed before the scheduled inauguration. “The reconstruction of the Peroorkada – Kudappanakunnu road is also expected to be over before the monsoon,” he added.

Workers were milling about the complex when the Minister and senior officials including Collector Sanjay Kaul visited the site. Flooring, erection of railings and balustrades and painting work were going on in parts of the building.

Talking to presspersons, Mr. Vijayakumar admitted that there had been a flaw in the original plan that resulted in the demolition of part of the ceiling slab on all floors in one block of eight stories. “The design by the PWD did not have provision for lifts. It was only after the completion of the structure that the flaw was noticed. There was no other solution but to break open the concrete slabs to accommodate the lifts,” he said.

The complex will have six lifts to service all the floors.

The Minister said the other offices under the district administration would be relocated to the complex in the subsequent phases.

Apart from the building with a carpet area of 1,70,000 sq feet, the project also includes construction of a compound wall, access road and landscaping of the premises. The trees on the premises will be retained to maintain the green cover.

Officials of the PWD and KSCC, tahsildar C.R. Krishnakumar and other Revenue officials were present to brief the Minister about the ongoing work.

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