Madhya Pradesh: New MLA rest house to come up at old rest house premises, says pro tem Speaker

BHOPAL: Taking a final call on the proposed construction of an MLA rest house for the lawmakers, which was expected to come up in the Arera Hills adjoining the Madhya Pradesh assembly complex, pro tem speaker Rameshwar Sharma said on Friday that the rest house would be constructed at the old premises. The decision has settled the long standing dispute over the destruction of green cover in the state capital region.
"A new rest house with all facilities will be constructed soon at the old rest house premises for the members of MP assembly," said Sharma who inspected the site of the old family block and the new rest house to be built for the MLAs in the MLA rest house complex, on Friday.
The pro tem speaker further said that the construction is pending since the last 10 years and to speed up the project, discussions will be held with the contractors very soon. "We have decided to hold discussions with all parties in order to take early action for the construction of the rest house," he said.
The new rest house will be of five floors, in which 102 flats will be built in the first phase. Officials said that the work plan for the rest house was pending for the last ten years due to lack of site selection.
It was in 2010 when the BJP-led state government decided to construct MLA rest house in the Arera Hills region for the lawmakers. There was a demand from some MLAs that the old rest house adjacent to the MP Vidhan Sabha near Jawahar Chowk, was ruined and unaccomodable.
After approval from the assembly secretariat, more than 1150 trees were knocked down while several hundred more of which some trees are nearly 50 to 70 years old, were to be cut to clean the land for the construction of the project. After voices of dissent rose from different quarters over the project, some social workers came forward to shape up this anguish on a large scale.
In 2013 the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had taken cognizance of the project and later offered conditional approval after clearing the riders put by the Tribunal. Environmentalists said that the destruction of trees could lead to massive soil erosion on such a high hillock and does not augur well for the city.
The capital project administration (CPA) and the municipal corporation (BMC) are overseeing the project. Apart from the approval of the NGT, all departmental permission had been taken for the project. The CPA decided to build three BHKs houses for the MLAs. In its first phase, 5 buildings were being constructed. It will be six to seven storeys. There will be modern facilities for the stay of MLAs in the project of about 80 crores which is likely to cost more after such a long delay.
After open opposition from all quarters due to the felling of trees, the project got stuck into legal hassle and delayed. The fresh decision by the assembly secretariat has given respite to the environmentalists and social workers who were up in arms against the project in Arera Hills area.