Kolkata M’laya House construction cost shoots up
SHILLONG: The construction cost of Meghalaya House at Russell Street, Kolkata has further shot up with the Government paying Rs 20 lakh as license fee to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to clear the construction plan of sewerage system of the building to connect to the main sewerage system of Kolkata city.
Lack of farsightedness has resulted in State Government incurring additional expenditure of Rs 20 lakh as license fee to KMC just for the clearance of the sewerage system.
The amount would have been less if the component would have been included in the original plan, sources said.
Moreover, the cost of the construction of the project which was earlier fixed at Rs 22 crore increased to Rs 49.2 crore, bringing burden to the state exchequer.
The irony is that though the State Government took over the building from Asian Housing and Infrastructure Pvt. Limited (AHIPL) on August 5 this year, the building is yet to be inaugurated pending the construction of the sewerage system.
An official admitted that the amount of Rs 20 lakh as license fee is high, but hoped that with the constitution of sewerage system, Government would be able to use the building at the earliest. Besides completing the works related to sewerage, furnishing work of the building is also remaining.
