The Jayalalithaa government brought former CM M Karunanidhi's dream project to a rude halt, stopping ongoing construction work at the Rs 1,200-crore assembly-cum-secretariat complex and setting up a panel under a retired high court judge to probe alleged irregularities.
The announcement came in governor SS Barnala's customary address to the assembly on Friday.
The reversal was not unexpected. As opposition leader, Jayalalithaa had criticized the "wasteful expenditure" on the new complex and remarked that she preferred the historic 17th century Fort St George building to the unaesthetic building, a "circus tent", that was coming up.
The governor said the commission would "inquire into the alleged irregularities like excess expenditure, inordinate delay and deficiency in standards of construction" and till then all further building work...would be stopped.
The DMK put up a brave face, with the party's legislature leader and Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin saying, "DMK has seen and faced many inquiry commissions.We are not bothered about this one."
But as the gravity of the government's decision sank in, PWD officials expressed concern over the implications for contractors and labourers. "There are a lot of practical issues involved. We don't know how we are going to handle the construction company which got the contract. Many of the labourers (from Bihar and other states) will lose their jobs," said an official.
"The dome for the A Block is yet to be finished. Without maintenance, the building's condition will worsen," an official said.
About 80% of the construction work has been completed in Block A which comprises the assembly hall, chief minister's office and offices of other ministers. VASCON, a Pune-based construction company, got the contract for Block B which was supposed to house the offices of various departments. The previous DMK government had also planned to construct a new state guest house there. "The work on B block has started only now. It will take a few months to complete," an officer told TOI.
The new secretariat complex was originally estimated to cost around Rs 450 crore. But Block A alone entailed a cost of more than Rs 500 crore. The main elliptical building in the new complex, with 9.5 lakh sqft area, is as big as the old secretariat and the 10-storey Namakkal Kavignar Maalikai, which presently houses the various departments, put together. These two old buildings from where the government functions now measure only eight lakh sqft.
The under-construction second building has an area of around 7.5 lakh sq ft, but could be as spacious as the first one owing to its rectangular shape. Apart from these two buildings, the previous government had planned a big auditorium to replace the erstwhile government-owned Kalaivanar Arangam and a multi-level car park.
The announcement came in governor SS Barnala's customary address to the assembly on Friday.
The reversal was not unexpected. As opposition leader, Jayalalithaa had criticized the "wasteful expenditure" on the new complex and remarked that she preferred the historic 17th century Fort St George building to the unaesthetic building, a "circus tent", that was coming up.
The governor said the commission would "inquire into the alleged irregularities like excess expenditure, inordinate delay and deficiency in standards of construction" and till then all further building work...would be stopped.
The DMK put up a brave face, with the party's legislature leader and Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin saying, "DMK has seen and faced many inquiry commissions.We are not bothered about this one."
But as the gravity of the government's decision sank in, PWD officials expressed concern over the implications for contractors and labourers. "There are a lot of practical issues involved. We don't know how we are going to handle the construction company which got the contract. Many of the labourers (from Bihar and other states) will lose their jobs," said an official.
"The dome for the A Block is yet to be finished. Without maintenance, the building's condition will worsen," an official said.
About 80% of the construction work has been completed in Block A which comprises the assembly hall, chief minister's office and offices of other ministers. VASCON, a Pune-based construction company, got the contract for Block B which was supposed to house the offices of various departments. The previous DMK government had also planned to construct a new state guest house there. "The work on B block has started only now. It will take a few months to complete," an officer told TOI.
The new secretariat complex was originally estimated to cost around Rs 450 crore. But Block A alone entailed a cost of more than Rs 500 crore. The main elliptical building in the new complex, with 9.5 lakh sqft area, is as big as the old secretariat and the 10-storey Namakkal Kavignar Maalikai, which presently houses the various departments, put together. These two old buildings from where the government functions now measure only eight lakh sqft.
The under-construction second building has an area of around 7.5 lakh sq ft, but could be as spacious as the first one owing to its rectangular shape. Apart from these two buildings, the previous government had planned a big auditorium to replace the erstwhile government-owned Kalaivanar Arangam and a multi-level car park.
No comments:
Post a Comment