The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Make quality of civic services truly world class'

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New Delhi

‘Make quality of civic services truly world class'

Staff Reporter

Chidambaram inaugurates Delhi's new 28-storey Civic Centre

– Photo: V. V. Krishnan

A new landmark: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at the newly-inaugurated Syama Prasad Mookerjee Civic Centre in the Capital on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: After a delay of over a year and a swelled up budget of Rs.650 crore, the Capital's newly-constructed Civic Centre building on Jawaharlal Nehru Marg which will house the headquarters of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was finally unveiled on Thursday.

The 28-storey, 112-metre landmark building has been touted as the “tallest building” in the Capital. However, some work on the building is yet to be completed. According to MCD officials, it is being done in phases but the civic body can shift some offices even as work is on.

Inaugurating the Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Civic Centre, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram vowed to make Delhi a world-class city and appealed to the civic administration to also bring about an overall improvement in the quality of civic services provided by it. “This Civic Centre has been long overdue and we are truly proud of this magnificent building that will become a landmark of Delhi in the years to come. But this is not enough as along with this we must ensure that the hand of quality touches each and every aspect of civic services provided by the MCD be it its roads, sewerage, water, electricity, hospitals and schools. An effort should be made to make the quality of civic services truly world class so that people take pride in it and work towards maintaining it just like it has happened in the case of the Delhi Metro,” he added.Former Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Delhi Finance Minister A. K. Walia were among those present at the ceremony.

The building, spread over 12 acres with the “Green Building” concept, will bring under one roof the deliberative wing and different offices of the civic body, which has almost 96 per cent of Delhi's area under its jurisdiction. The existing MCD headquarters in Chandni Chowk's Town Hall is expected to be turned into a heritage hotel or a museum. According to the civic body, the installed systems in the new building which includes rainwater harvesting, energy- efficient lighting and daylight sensor systems cater to the best engineering practices in energy and natural resources conservation measures. The Civic Centre comprises four six-storey blocks, one 28-storey tower block in addition to services block, water treatment plant and sewage treatment plant. Expected to cater to 16,000 people per day, it will also have waiting areas, fountains, an open-air theatre, three halls for holding MCD House and Standing Committee meetings as well as a separate media centre. It also boasts an auditorium with capacity of 1,000 seats beside an art gallery and a restaurant. It will have a 33kV sub-station for dedicated and interrupted power supply. The foundation stone for the building was laid by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1994 and work started in 2005 with Malyasia-based IJM Corporation as contractor.Expressing happiness over the naming of the building after Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Mr. Advani described him as a great leader and a martyr to the cause of the country. “I am very happy that MCD has decided to name it after him and the Delhi and Central governments also gave their approval. I am also happy about the fact that the representatives of both ruling party and opposition in the MCD, Delhi Assembly and Parliament are all present here to mark the occasion of the building's inauguration.” Municipal Commissioner K. S. Mehra noted that the Town Hall building constructed in 1860 used to cater to only 1.20 lakh people in 1958, when the MCD came into being. “With the population of Delhi now touching 1.60 crore, the need for a new headquarters was felt for long. The MCD has signed an MoU with the Income Tax Department for leasing out 40 per cent built-up area of the new building with sharing of common facilities at an approximate value of Rs.1,800 crore,” he added.

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