MLA, Mayor perform puja at new Municipal Corporation of Tirupati office building
Tirupati: Stage is set for shifting the office of Municipal Corporation of Tirupati to the vacant building at Maternity hospital complex on a temporary basis. MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy and Mayor Dr R Sirisha formally performed puja at the new premises on Wednesday. The shifting became necessary as the present office building will be demolished to construct a new five-storey City Operation Centre at a cost of Rs 71 crore with a plinth area of 14,807 sq metres wherein the command and control system will also be housed.
Speaking on the occasion, the MLA said the Corporation office will function from the maternity hospital campus for the next 18 months till the construction of 'City operation centre' gets completed. Mayor Sirisha said the government has examined from all angles and allotted the vacant old DM&HO office building to house the Corporation office on a temporary basis. She said the construction of the City operation centre building will be completed in the stipulated time.
Additional commissioner Sunitha, deputy commissioner Chandramouleeswar Reddy, deputy Mayor Bhumana Abhinay Reddy, Corporators Ramaswamy Venkateswarlu, Sekhar Reddy, Hanumantha Naik and others, standing committee members SK Babu, Imam, R Sridevi, municipal engineers Chandrasekhar and Venkatarami Reddy attended the programme.
It may be recalled here that initially the MLA has announced that the present office will be shifted to the old maternity hospital building till the new construction is completed. But it evoked stiff opposition from various quarters and opposition parties have even held protests against the decision.
Following this, the government has appointed an expert committee to look into the objections and make recommendations. Based on the committee's recommendations, the government issued orders to shift the office into a vacant building in the maternity hospital complex. Due to all this, the shifting process was delayed by more than a month. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new building construction was also held in August itself.