State govt to take call on makeover of Mantralaya building

The Maharashtra government will require Rs 25 crore to redo the three Manatralaya floors destroyed in yesterday’s fire, its initial estimates said. The exact cost, though, would be decided only after the completion of structural and fire audits, according to the general administration and public works departments.

These audits would also indicate whether or not the gutted fourth, fifth and sixth floors are safe for future use. This would also force the government to take a call on the much-debated makeover of the 1955-built Mantralaya. This was a task the public works department had, in 2009, proposed to be implemented on a BOT (build, operate, transfer) basis, but was put on the backburner.

That year, the reconstruction cost was estimated at around Rs 1,300 crore. The proposal said the developer would be allotted land near the legislators’ hostel opposite the Mantralaya. The plan also included redevelopment of the ministers’ bungalows and building high-rises to house various government departments.

On Friday, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who held a meeting with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his council of ministers, suggested both short- and long-term plans to deal with the situation. The short-term measures would include relocating various government officers in temporary locations, he said.

The administration would carrying out expert structural investigations before going in for the rebuilding of Mantralaya, added the NCP leader, who also visited the ill-fated building.

It is the government that should do the proposed Mantralaya makeover, he said, dismissing the BOT suggestion. He asked the state government to take the Opposition into confidence before taking any decision with regard to the makeover. “Let us convert crisis into opportunity.”

Pawar also asked the government to restore the functioning of the administration within 48 hours in a bid to instill faith in the public. The state administration had done it under him in March 1993 after the serial bomb blasts in this metro, he recalled. Pawar’s directive then also led to the resumption of the functioning of BSE within 48 hours.

A senior official said on Friday that the damage to the Mantralaya was severe. “The government, before going in for a total makeover, can redevelop the damaged floors by spending Rs 25 crore,” he told Business Standard on condition of anonymity.

Preliminary survey by fire officials says walls, windows and cables have been burnt, while floors may have suffered damage.

Earlier in the day, Pawar said held interaction with National Disaster Manag-ement Cell officials, whose opined that the structure needs to be redeveloped if fire had engulfed it for more than eight hours. A decision on reconstruction will be taken only after consulting structural engineers, he added.