Delhi gets its tallest building

The 28-storeyed 112-metre Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre, built at a cost of Rs 650 crore, was inaugurated at a function here attended by former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, among others.

"A great capital city like Delhi must have a very good civic administration. This civic centre has been long overdue and we are truly proud of this magnificent building that will be a landmark in many many years to come," Chidambaram said.

"All those associated with MCD, Delhi government and the Centre will have to work together to make Delhi a world-class city and I appeal to the civic administration to give touch of quality in every aspect of the city like roads, schools, hospitals. We should never compromise on quality," he said.

When the infrastructure will be world-class, citizens will take pride in it and ensure its maintenance themselves, said Chidamabaram, who also took a round of the 'green building' constructed in an area of 12 acres.

Expressing happiness over naming of the building after Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Advani described him as a great leader and a martyr to the cause of the country. "I am very happy that MCD has decided to name it after him and the Delhi and Central governments also gave their approval," he said.

Compliment

ing the MCD for its "good work", Swaraj hoped that the new state-of-the-art building would provide all kinds of facilities to the citizens in a better environment. Dikshit said it is an occasion to congratulate the citizens of Delhi. She said it is significant that the Civic Centre, with a number of energy conservation and environmental protection measures, was being unveiled on Earth Day.

The building, which will cater to 20,000 footfalls a day, will bring under one roof the deliberative wing and different offices of the civic body, which looks after 96 per cent of areas of Delhi. The existing MCD headquarters in Town Hall is expected to be turned into a heritage hotel or a museum.

The new headquarters of MCD has been constructed in an area of 1.16 lakh square metres with a concept of 'green building', which is designed for optimum utilisation of natural resources like air, water and sunlight. However, its construction had been hit by delays with the MCD missing several deadlines for shifting its offices.