The construction work of the Vidhan Bhawan building at Gairsain in Chamoli district will begin on June 1, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal today said.
A team headed by deputy Speaker of the state Assembly Ansuya Prasad Maikhuri is currently on tour of a few hill states in the north and northeast to study the design of state Assembly buildings there before the final design of the Vidhan Bhawan at Gairsain is prepared, Kunjwal told PTI.
The National Building Construction Corporation, which has been entrusted with the task of implementing the project, has its architect and engineer on the team which will make a presentation on the design of the project on March 11 after its return from the tour, he said.
"After the final map is prepared which is expected later this month, the process to submit the DPR on the project to the Centre will begin and we are confident that the construction work will start on June 1," the Speaker said.
Gairsain is an emotive issue with a substantial section of those, who fought for statehood to Uttarakhand, in favour of the remote place in Chamoli district being made the permanent capital of the state.
When asked about his views on whether Gairsain should be made the permanent capital of Uttarakhand, Kunjwal evaded a direct reply but said "An assembly building is constructed only at a place where the capital of a state is located."
He said, "As the process for construction of an assembly building in Gairsain has already been initiated by the state government, it will also have to do something about granting it the status of a capital."
Rs 88 crore approved by the 13th Finance Commission for construction of an Assembly building in Uttarakhand will have to be spent over the Vidhan Bhawan project at Gairsain and not on a proposed new assembly building in Dehradun for which the land is yet to be acquired by the state government, he said.
