Govt may acquire Poonam Tower; starts structural audit
| Date :18-Jun-2019 |
Poonam Tower that has been waiting to be used for more than
20 years.
By Vikas Vaidya:
It is final, now Government has started initial process of acquiring Poonam Tower, the building that stands in front of Vidhan Bhavan. The building, constructed by renowned developer N Kumar, is awaiting some movement inside it for more than 20 years and its wait is likely to end now. Earlier in 2016 one such attempt was made by the Government when Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule had declared in a press conference that the State wanted to acquire Poonam Tower.
Then N Kumar had denied any such development and made it clear that he would not sell half-finished construction to anybody. Now things have changed and it seems that N Kumar did give his consent to the Government’s proposal of selling the building. Sources disclosed that the process got momentum during the last monsoon session held at Nagpur when a meeting of authorities was conducted under the Chairmanship of Principal Secretary of State Legislature Dr Anant Kalse. During that time it was decided that Vidhan Bhavan would acquire the building and some offices of legislature for which no place remained in the Vidhan Bhavan premises could be accommodated in Poonam Tower. Apart from offices of Vidhan Bhavan, some regular offices at Nagpur also could be shifted was the whole plan chalked out by Government.
It is in primary stage but rough plan is ready. Highly placed sources disclosed that a meeting of Vidhan Bhavan officers, District Collector and Municipal Commissioner was held four months ago. N Kumar too had attended the meeting. It is learnt that N Kumar had offered to handover the building to Government for which he should get around Rs 131 crore. This amount was not acceptable to the Government so it has decided to do its valuation on its own. Now the work of valuation has been given to Public Works Department (PWD). PWD has asked Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) to do the structural audit.
VNIT will make the audit and submit it to District Collector who will forward it to State Legislature. State Legislature will authorise the Government agency that would take the proposal further. Teacher of VNIT on condition of anonymity told ‘The Hitavada’ that he had received the proposal and the team is working on it. It is in primary state at present. The team technically check the strength of building, its structural health and accordingly place the details before the Government. N Kumar had constructed this building with a plan to have a revolving restaurant at top floor. During construction also the building did not get nod from the authority as no commercial activity was expected in front of Vidhan Bhavan for security reasons.