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HomePoliticsMaharashtra Mantralaya makeover: A project that just doesn’t end

Maharashtra Mantralaya makeover: A project that just doesn’t end

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Six years after a portion of the Mantralaya was gutted in a blaze, the makeover remains, at best, a job half done, as per documents obtained by ThePrint.

Mumbai: In June 2012, a portion of the Maharashtra government’s headquarters, Mantralaya, was gutted in a blaze, prompting the then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government to urgently take up the long-pending ‘Mantralaya makeover’ plan.

Six years later, the makeover remains, at best, a job half done, as per documents obtained by ThePrint under the Right to Information Act.

A timeline of events | Siddhant Gupta

While the former Congress-NCP government left the project in a mess, the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition did little to clear it up.

A set of grand entrance steps, modelled on Mumbai’s famous Asiatic library and the highlight of the Mantralaya makeover project, that the former government built for VIP use, today have no purpose. The annex building connected to the main Mantralaya building is still old and creaky, with exposed wiring all over, and despite plans, parking inside the Mantralaya premises is still a major issue, causing a spillover of cars on the busy main road frequented by Nariman Point office goers. Moreover, there have been issues of leakages and structural problems too.

In an internal note in May 2015, when the project was almost complete, the public works department (PWD), now under BJP minister Chandrakant Patil, noted that a number of officials and public representatives had pointed out flaws with the work regarding the air conditioning systems, false ceilings, leakages in toilets and so on. The chief minister’s office was also a victim once when a slab of the false ceiling in the area where the CM’s personal staff sits collapsed, prompting the government to conduct an audit through its Vigilance and Quality Control Division.

Ajit Sagne, secretary, buildings, at the public works department said, “We attend to issues as and when they are raised. The extent of complaints has, however, reduced now.”

Besides these issues, the documents also show how the project was riddled with delays and cost escalations as new plans were added and existing ones altered, amid internal standoffs between different departments.

The Mantralaya redevelopment project

Less than two months after the fire broke out in June six years ago, the state cabinet approved draft plans for redeveloping the main Mantralaya building in two phases, focusing on the fourth to the seventh floor, which were engulfed in the fire, in the first phase. The government also decided to appoint architect Raja Aederi without calling for tenders considering the urgency of the project and given that the government had earlier chosen his firm in 2007 when it had intended to redevelop the Mantralaya building. The project did not include the annex building, which though old, was not impacted by the fire.

In December 2012, the government gave a work order for the revamp of the entire main building to Unity Infraprojects Ltd, the lowest bidder, for Rs 138 crore, as against its initial estimates of Rs 110 crore. The project was to be completed in eight months.

The PWD, then headed by NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal, however, revised the scope of work along the way to add new plans such as a cabinet hall, conference rooms, an executive dining hall, additional elevators, escalators and light fittings on the seventh floor, pushing up the cost.

In 2014, the department also approved additional items such as landscaping, glass cabins and furniture remodelling, bullet-proof glass, blast-proof glass and so on recommending an escalated cost of Rs 245 crore to the cabinet for approval. However, officials currently posted in the PWD say the final cost, including expenditure on furniture, was Rs 210 crore.

After much delay, which officials attributed to the time spent in relocating employees and increase in the project’s scope, the redevelopment of the main building wound up only late in 2015.

A former Congress minister who did not wish to be named said, “The whole project was being driven by the PWD minster. He was insisting on this particular architect. Whatever suggestions came forward were being considered for implementation. At that time something had to be urgently done, so the government took it up. But, unfortunately things have not worked as per concept.”

Bhujbal declined comment saying he was unwell.

Inter-departmental conflicts

There were constant conflicts and back-and-forth between the PWD and the finance and planning departments on the project.

The finance and law and judiciary departments took objection when the department floated tenders for items such as interior light fittings, lamp lighting and so on without having vetted them first. There were also disagreements over a bunch of new proposals from the architect.

The proposals, first floated in 2013, were for the creation of basement and stack parking for Rs 41.62 crore, construction of a 24-storeyed tower in place of the annex building for Rs 251 crore and the revamp of the bridge connecting the main and annex buildings at Rs 138 crore.

The planning department raised several red flags, questioning the decision to appoint the same architect for the work, vetting of the bill of quantities determined by the architect and the allocation of funds.

While presentations were made to the then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, his Congress government did not take up these projects.

Chavan said, “We did not take up works on the annex building and other proposals because by then we were already near the end of the term. This government probably did not take up the projects only because it was the previous government’s work.”

The current government’s plans

Under the BJP-led government too, the PWD put up proposals for additional work before the cabinet in July 2015 — a ground-floor canteen and facade illumination for Rs 26 crore, basement parking and security enclave worth Rs 56.82 crore, and, either renovation of the annex building on the lines of the main building for Rs 217 crore or complete redevelopment and construction of a 26-storey high-rise for Rs 477.40 crore.

Sagne said, “We are currently working on a solution to parking. The rest of the proposals will require a high budget. It depends on the availability of funds with the government.”

The PWD made a presentation before a chief secretary-led committee for a proposal worth Rs 46 crore to create multi-level parking for 348 cars. The department also put a Rs 28-crore proposal to case loose electricity wires, a major hazard, in the annex building.

Incidentally, the new proposals have also been put up as per the same architect’s plans.

“The parking proposal is still under works, but the committee approved work on the wiring in the annex building. We are proposing to put it up for budget approval,” an official said.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Chhagan Bhujbal was always a stylish man, had a sauna fitted in his official bungalow on Narayan Dabholkar Marg. Many years ago, as revenue minister, he visited Ahmednagar district to review the drought situation, in his personal SUV. A local MLA said in Marathi, Viewed through his tinted glass windows, even the withered crops look lush green.

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