Indian Bureaucracy | Inauguration of General Pool Office Accommodation-2 at KG Marg

Apr 14,2023

Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas dedicated to the Nation, ‘General Pool Office Accommodation-2’ at Kasturba Gandhi Marg & Redeveloped ‘General Pool Residential Accommodation’ at Mohammadpur & Thyagraj Nagar here today. Addressing those present, the Minister stated that redevelopment of these colonies have been done using ‘Shear Wall Monolithic Construction Technology’, one of the 6 modern, sustainable and fast-building technologies shortlisted from the 'Global Housing Technology Challenge’ declared by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2019. He also highlighted that CPWD has used features like 100% solar power generation, energy efficient fittings, waste treated water, rainwater harvesting in all these three projects.

The occasion was also graced by Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena, Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi, Hon'ble Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary for Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Shailendra Sharma, Director General CPWD, Shri S. P. Chaudhary, Special Director General, CPWD and Shri Ranjit Singh, Special Director General CPWD.

General Pool Office Accommodation (GPOA)-2 at Kasturba Gandhi Marg is a state-of-the-art office building having plinth area of 61,454 sqm. It has two towers- G+9 storied office building (Tower I) and G+10 storied transit accommodation for National Defense College (Tower II) and its front entry is through an impressive 20-meter-high spherical globe made of structural glazing. The Tower-I will accommodate the offices of the Ministries of Labour & Employment, Power and Ports, Shipping & Waterways which are currently located in Shram Shakti Bhawan and Transport Bhawan, New Delhi. It has the capacity of accommodating 3 Cabinet Ministers, 4 State Ministers, 3 Secretaries with their 1,315 officers/staff. Tower-II of the building has 97 suites for National Defense College. This building has 6 conference rooms, a media briefing room, National power monitoring control room, Cafeteria & CSD canteen, Gym, community hall and double basement. There is a provision for parking approximately 600 Cars in the basement and at surface. The Work has been executed by Central Public Works Department at a cost of Rs. 325 crore against the sanctioned cost of Rs.351.37 crore.

The newly redeveloped General Pool Residential Accommodation at Mohammadpur has 708 Quarters (380 Type II and 328 Type III) and it has been completed with 25% saving against the sanctioned cost of Rs. 362 crore. GPRA at Thyagraj Nagar has 703 quarters (371 Type-II, 287 Type-III & 45 Type-IV) and has been completed with 30% saving against the sanctioned cost of Rs. 392 crore. This is in line with CPWD tradition of delivering quality along with economy in construction through value engineering. The old GPRA Colony at Thyagraj Nagar and Mohammadpur had 584 (G+1 to G+3) and 328 Type I Quarters were in dilapidated conditions and were de-constructed to pave the way for their redevelopment.

A considerable reduction in the ground coverage has been achieved in both the colonies with increase in the green area coverage by three times, paving the way for providing more open green spaces for healthy lifestyle. Both the colonies are equipped with modern amenities including a Community Centre having shopping area, indoor play area, creche, stitching centre, meditation room, anganwaadi, library etc. “The availability of these two complexes will not only meet the accommodation needs of the Central Government employees but will also help in the commuting and government work of all concerned”, said the Union Minister Shri, Hardeep S. Puri.

Keeping in mind the CPWD's focus on environmentally friendly development, special efforts and planning were undertaken in all the three projects for protection and preservation of maximum number of existing trees and bare minimum trees coming in the alignment of building were transplanted. In Thyagraj Nagar, out of the existing 349 trees 42 trees were transplanted. Sustainable and energy efficient construction technologies were adopted for construction. The GPRA Colony at Thyagraj Nagar has been constructed using shear wall monolithic construction technology using aluminum shuttering and self-compacting concrete (SCC). This construction technology is not only faster compared to conventional RCC construction techniques but it is sustainable and more earthquake resistant with longer life. All the projects were conceived and constructed keeping principles of sustainability and environment friendliness in view and in compliance with three-star GRIHA rating. On-Grid Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) Plants of 60KWp, 35 KWp and 150 KWp; Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) of 340 KLD, 500 KLD & 200 KLD capacity have been provided in Thyagraj Nagar, Mohammadpur and GPOA- 2 respectively. Rain water harvesting and underground water storage sumps have also been provided. The treated water of STP is to be used for horticulture purposes as well as for flushing of toilet shaving dual plumbing system. To address the growing issue of utilization of construction anddemolition waste, a total of about 621 Metric Tons and 246 Metric tons of C&D waste materials have been utilized in the new projects at Thyagraj Nagar and Mohammadpur respectively in the shape of Kerb Stone, Cement Concrete Tiles, Paver Blocks, Sand and Aggregates etc. Provision for 207 numbers covered car parking in stilt portion of residential blocks and for 673 numbers in open surface parking areas has been made in Thyagraj Nagar. Out of 778 car parking in Mohammadpur, 462 are open car parking and 316 numbersin Automatic Multi level car parking.

General Pool Office Accommodation-2 building at Kasturba Gandhi Marg & Redeveloped General Pool Residential Accommodation at Mohammadpur & Thyagraj Nagar, New Delhi, entrusted to CPWD by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, have been executed in a time bound manner with highest quality standards by the dedicated project team of CPWD Engineers and Architects under the dynamic guidance and leadership of Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs. This is in line with CPWD tradition of delivering quality along with economy in construction through value engineering. These GPRA Colonies equipped with all modern facilities shall cater to the requirement of providing comfortable accommodation to the Government Employees of the Central Government. The GPOA- 2 will serve as a landmark office building showcasing a magnificent blend of Architecture and Engineering.