PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday performed Hindu rituals at the site to mark the foundation stone laying ceremony for the new Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) building, a project said to be worth Rs 75 crore.
Panaji Parish Priest Fr Walter D’Sa blessed the stone and muslim prayers were also offered at the brief ceremony also attended by Taleigao MLA Jennifer Monserrate, Mayor Rohit Monserrate and other councillors.
According to the mayor, the first phase of the building will be completed in 18 months.
It will be an iconic structure, he said, adding that the project envisages a basement plus four floors besides an open plaza area of about 600 square meters.
There will also be a parking area for about 250-odd vehicles (four-wheelers) and also have commercial shops and offices apart from the CCP’s office and a town hall.
Monserrate said, the business concerns currently operating in the existing structures will be temporarily relocated at alternative sites for the duration of the construction work.
This is a second time that a foundation stone is being laid for the new CCP building complex.
Meanwhile, another edifice that the CCP plans to rebuild is the one that once housed the iconic National theater next to the Massano de Amorim complex. The proposal however has got shelved as the quasi-judicial matter of the dispute between the leasee (Rao family which operated the National Theater) and the CCP is ongoing.
