Plan to rebuild Panaji civic HQ to be decided by next council

PANAJI

With the current term of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) nearing its end and elections proposed in March, the fate of its grandiose plan to build a modern headquarters will now rest with the next elected council.  

The ambitious project, estimated to cost Rs 75 crore, involves demolishing the current building and constructing a modern edifice which will have a ‘town hall’, commercial spaces, adequate parking facilities and sundry other facilities.  

Foundation stones for the project were laid twice, first in 2021 and later in 2023, but the capital’s civic headquarters construction has since got stuck in a bureaucratic bind and a lack of space to temporarily house staff and services.  

While only a portion of an annexed ground-floor structure has been demolished, the Corporation continues to function in the old building, underscoring the paradox: demolition has begun, but construction cannot proceed.  

Mayor Rohit Monserrate, however, insists that the project is still a priority and that the capital city deserves a modern civic headquarters.  

“We are committed to delivering it, but we cannot disrupt the ongoing functions of the Corporation. Interim arrangements are being explored, and once those are in place, the project will move forward,” he said.  

A senior official explained that the biggest hurdle was finding adequate space to relocate staff, records and public-facing counters.  

“We cannot compromise on continuity of services, and that has forced us to pause the project. Several options were explored, but none have materialised,” the official said.  

One space considered to temporarily shift operations to was the tile-roofed ground-plus-one building which once housed the Bombay High Court bench here along MG Road. Another was the old WRD office at Patto, from where Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) is operating.  

For now, Panaji’s civic administration continues to operate from its ageing building. The promise of a gleaming new headquarters remains just that — a promise — while the city waits for space and for political will to finally align.