Mangaluru: Funds shortage eclipses work on new DC office at Padil

Mangaluru: The construction work of the new Deputy Commissioner’s building is 60 per cent complete with grants expected from various departments to complete pending works.

The construction of the building, which started with an estimated cost of Rs 41 crore, has so far cost Rs 50 crore.

Additional Rs 20 crore are required for completion. Of this, the Health Department has to provide Rs 7 crore, other departments have to provide collectively Rs 11 crore and the remaining must come from the State government.

Until these grants are provided works will continue suffering from continuation problems.

Presently, about 70 workers are working in wiring, whitewashing, tiles and granite installations.

The construction of the building in 2018 and the first phase was expected to finish in September 2019. According to current estimates, civil works are expected to be completed in the next couple of months, however, an additional 5-6 months are required to complete the interior designing work.

The new DC office complex is being built on a 5.8 acre land with a total area of about 2.26 square feet. The complex will house offices of 38 different departments, district in-charge ministers, MPs and MLAs. The ground floor of the complex has a huge hall that can seat 400 people, 2 meeting halls on the second storey, a parking lot for 50 cars and over 100 bikes.

The building will also have a bank, ATM, canteen, post office and police outpost.

Behind the office complex, a warehouse is being built to store EVMs, VVPATs and control units for the district’s 8 Assembly constituencies. The Strong Room, presently located in the current DC office complex near State Bank, will be moved here.

This two-storeyed building, costing a total of Rs 5.19 crore, is being built as per Election Commission rules.