Offices at Shram Shakti Bhawan and Transport Bhawan are likely to start shifting to other buildings in central Delhi from December for the construction of Members of Parliament (MPs) Chambers near the new Parliament building, housing, and urban affairs ministry. They will later move to the Common Central Secretariat buildings being constructed as part of the Central Vista redevelopment project.
The initial plan was to start the shifting process in October, but it could not be done as the two newly constructed buildings at Kasturba Gandhi (KG) Marg could not be completed due to disruption in the supply chain. But the buildings will be ready by November. The offices from these two buildings will be shifted to three different locations in central Delhi.
Shram Shakti and Transport Bhawans are located on two adjacent plots spread across 5.5 acres. They will be demolished for the construction of the chambers to provide office spaces for MPs.
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the nodal agency for the redevelopment project, plans to construct a 10-storeyed building (ground plus 10) building with three levels of the basement car park. “The building will be located close to the new Parliament building and be connected through a tunnel. It will have office spaces for over 800 MPs. At present, MPs do not have any offices in the existing parliament building.
CPWD last month started a subsurface survey to look at the underground utilities at Shram Shakti Bhawan and Transport Bhawan, housing offices of power, labour, and employment ministries. It also started the process of renovating existing buildings to meet the requirement of the ministries.
CPWD has invited bids to renovate the Jodhpur Officers Hostel at Pandara Park for the two ministries. The ?13.65 crore renovation work will be completed within three months from the date of award of work.
Tourism and skill development and entrepreneurship ministries will shift to the 12 blocks at the hostel. There are 14 blocks of which 12 will be used to accommodate the staff of the two ministries. We have invited bids for the renovation of the blocks to meet the requirement of the ministries and provide space for offices of ministers and senior officers, and convert it into ministry offices. The ministries will operate from these buildings.
The ministries of ports, shipping and waterways, labour and employment, and power will shift to the newly constructed office complex at KG Marg. The ministry of road transport and highways will move to the Government of India Press building at Minto Road, said a second ministry official.
The office complex at KG Marg has been constructed to provide temporary space for offices till the time the 10 common central secretariat buildings are ready. “We are preparing the floors as per the requirement of the ministries. The work got delayed as some components such as multi-port switches for IT infrastructure could not be delivered on time. Now we have got the switches and we will also be using the old switches that are in use in the existing offices when they start moving to the new building,” said a second CPWD official.
The construction work of the ?351-crore office complex at KG Marg started in 2020. One of the buildings there will have residential accommodation for Defence officers. “All the officers living at National Defence College’s residential accommodation will shift here. Close to 93 flats will be provided at the building,” said the official. “In the second 10-storeyed building, all government offices will be shifted temporarily. The building will have sitting space for close to 2,300 employees. Both buildings will have parking space for around 600 vehicles.”