Multi-storey building on cards to house MCG office at Vyapar Sadan

MCG commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said that the tender for the construction project will be floated in November and the multi-level building will be constructed in two years. The proposal to construct the office in Vyapar Sadan was passed by the MCG chief in February this year. However, the changes suggested in the building plan took the officials a few months time owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.

The revised building plan has taken into consideration the convenience of all its visitors, across all age groups, and the officials. Talking about the building, an official said, “We are constructing a sustainable building and it will have enough sunlight. There will be public spaces, ATMs and shops in the building. We will also provide the provision of a dispensary and crèche in the new office building.”

A total of 70,000 sq ft area on the second and third floor of the building will be leased out to develop the recovery cost of the building, which is estimated to be Rs 116 crore. It used to operate out of a two-storey building situated opposite the Civil Hospital till 2015 after which it shifted to its present Sector 34 office.

The office of the mayor and her team will be on the first floor, where a lounge for the councillors will also be set up. A “Town Hall” to conduct House meetings is also a part of the plan on the first floor, an official said. A municipal auditorium with a seating capacity of 650 has also found its place in the revised building plan. There will be three basements in the building where the parking space of 450 cars will be allotted.

For the convenience of residents, the citizen facilitation centres (CFCs) will be on the ground floor. There will be a library also and MCG plans to extend this facility to students preparing for competitive exams for which the library will be made operational for extended hours. Vinay Pratap Singh said that the challenge is to provide and construct all these facilities in the budget allocated to the civic body.

“We were allocated Rs 116 crore by the state government. Now the challenge is to construct all these facilities in the same budget,” Singh said. Twelve years after its formation, MCG still does not have its own building in the city. The MCG office in Sector 34 is an HSVP building for which MCG has to pay a monthly rent of around Rs 20 lakh.