As much as Rs 1.80 crore will be spent on electrical installation. The work is stipulated to be completed within 18 months. (Representational)With the restoration and preservation work of Capitol Complex here awaiting the light of day for over a year now, the UT Administration’s Engineering Wing floated a tender for the same on Thursday— for the fifth consecutive time.
The restoration, preservation, conservation and management of Capitol Complex, comprising Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat building, has to be undertaken for Rs 25.73 crore. The Administration issued the first tender in this regard in August last year.
A senior official of the administration said they are hoping companies will show interest this time. “It was during lockdown period that a tender was floated and agencies must have been worried about the availability of labour then. We are hopeful that this time, firms show interest,” said the official.
Of the total budget for the restoration work, the civil component will see spending of Rs 22.18 crore, while Rs 1.70 crore will be spent on public health services. As much as Rs 1.80 crore will be spent on electrical installation. The work is stipulated to be completed within 18 months.
The restoration work has seen some rough patches ever since it began. The administration hired a Mumbai-based private consultant for Rs 1.48 crore even as the city has its own architecture college and a full-fledged department of urban planning. The consultant, however, left the work midway. At present, the administration does not have any consultant for the project.
A consultant is required to carry out a lidar survey on the building, in which a laser is inducted into the building to comprehend the problem and resort to an appropriate solution. The estimates are made according to the survey, which has not been carried out yet, said the officials.
The first ‘restored’ courtroom in the Punjab and Haryana High Court building was thrown open to the public a few months back — three years after the Capitol Complex was declared a UNESCO heritage site.
Around Rs 25.73 crore has to be spent on the Punjab and Haryana Secretariat building, while Rs 5.5 crore is being spent on the Punjab and Haryana High Court building and Rs 6.5 crore on the Punjab and Haryana Assemblies.
The iconic buildings of the Capitol Complex– Secretariat, Legislative Assembly and Punjab and Haryana High Court– were constructed between 1955 and 1958.