PANAJI
Work on the construction of the new administrative building of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) will gain pace after the current building is fully vacated and the administration shifts to a temporary location elsewhere in the city, Clen Madeira, the CCP Commissioner, has said.
“We were to shift to the premises of the Old High Court building formerly occupied by the Commercial Taxes Department and the Excise Department,” Madeira told The Goan but added the move has got delayed since only the top floor was handed over which does not suffice.
“We have asked the government to allot the entire edifice to the CCP or in the alternative give us the premises next to the old Patto bridge currently with the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCL),” Madeira said, adding that the entire CCP administration will move there once the government takes a decision.
The CCP commissioner was, however, hesitant to put a firm timeline.
The project to construct a new four-storey building as the CCP headquarters is being executed by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) which has already completed the tendering process and issued the work order.
However, other than demolishing a portion of the old building on a stretch along the Atmaram Borkar Road, no further work is being carried out at the site where Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had laid the foundation stone back in October last year.
The project is planned over the entire 14,700-odd square meters but much of its property’s periphery is the older, Portuguese-built Praca do Commercio, where several commercial establishments operate their businesses.
Some of these businesses such as Cafe Aram, Farmacia Salcete among others have been operating there for decades and getting them to vacate is turning out to be a complex proposition for the CCP.
Delay due to tenants
Quasi-judicial proceedings for these tenants of the Praca do Commercio to vacate their premises are currently on before the Estate Officer Victoria Gonsalves.
Completing these proceedings without a hitch will be a huge challenge although Madeira said the progress is satisfactory and several matters have already been disposed of by Gonsalves.
The GSUDA has already officially communicated to the CCP that it would want the entire land handed over to it before it begins work on the project in full steam instead of in phases.
The project envisages a four-storey building with a basement and a central open space of about 600 square meters.
The four-storey building will accommodate the CCP’s administrative building, a town hall and shops and offices.
