Ripon Buildings restoration to take 6 months

Chennai: Restoration of the historic Ripon Buildings that houses the city civic headquarters at a cost of Rs 7.35 crore is to be delayed by another six months resulting in the cost increasing by 20 to 25 per cent.

This means, the civic body will pay close to Rs 2 crore extra benefiting the private contractor, thereby wasting the tax payers’ money for the inordinate delay caused by the contractor and officials who failed to get the job completed within the stipulated 18 months time, corporation sources said. It may be noted that the civic body has been ducking over the project for more than four years.

According to corporation insiders, the ongoing restoration work is now over by about 80 per cent and the project got delayed due to multiple reasons. Chennai metro rail construction, 2015 December floods, lack of skilled people and material to restore the Indo Saracenic structure were among the reasons for the delay. Further, the building started developing hairline cracks last year and the work was suspended not once, but on several occasions due to its heritage significance.

The project was mooted during the previous DMK regime along with the restoration of Victoria Public Hall. The project schedule was fixed by 2013 and subsequently the deadlines have been revised for reasons best know to civic administrators, said city corporation DMK floor leader Subash Chadra Bose. The corporation has now revised the project estimate by Rs 1.90 crore and there has to be accountability if contractors delay the project, Bose added.

“The delay in renovation work was mainly due to official apathy and poor workmanship. You need dedicated engineers to speed up such massive works. After Metro rail work started, Ripon Buildings not only lost its lawn but also the liveliness. It now wears a deserted look”, said S. Purushothaman, secretary, Chennai Managaratchi Anaithu Oozhiyar Sangham.

Intach,  a monitoring agency, had also insisted that only lime mortar be used for plastering the 103-year-old heritage building. Last week, the corporation council adopted a resolution seeking completion of the project by this November with a  revised estimate of Rs 9.25 crore, the official said.