Kochi Corporation to get new building

KOCHI: After 11 years of uncertainty, the construction of the new building for Kochi Corporation at Marine Drive  will resume soon, if everything goes well. The project proposed in 2004 and stuck midway has got a fresh impetus after the finance department cleared the revised project proposal and cost.

The works had been slowed down after the foundation was built in 2004.  The project  was dropped after the cost escalated manifold.  The actual budget of the project  was Rs 13.68 crore.  

Though the state government directed to revise the project’s tender estimate at the 2010 rate, nothing had happened.

Now, with the finance department’s clearance for the new proposal and tender rates, the civic body can resume the works at the earliest.

“The contractor has agreed to take up construction at an estimated cost of '18 crore. Apart from its own funds, the civic body plans to take a loan from the Kerala Urban and Rural Development Finance Corporation (KURDFC). The civic body has already paid Rs. 6.20 crore to the contractor,” said works committee chairperson Soumini Jain.

Meanwhile,  engineering experts from the Cochin University of Science and Technology examined and certified the structural stability of the foundation.

“Since the structure is at Marine Drive, vulnerable to saline water intrusion, we decided to seek the expert opinion from structural engineers. During the salinity test, it was found that the foundation is intact,” added Ms Soumini Jain. There has been a growing demand for constructing a new office building as the existing structure is in a dilapidated condition.