LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Assembly speaker Satish Mahana has announced that Uttar Pradesh is all set to have a new Vidhan Sabha building. He said he was optimistic that the 18th Assembly, whose term will end in 2027, will be able to have a few sittings in the new building. The speaker said funds have been set aside for this project and work will begin soon.
The Uttar Pradesh government has made a token budgetary provision of Rs 50 crore for the construction of the new building, on the lines of Central Vista in Delhi, in the state capital. The UP government is likely to hire a consultant to design the new Vidhan Sabha, which should be strong and well equipped keeping in mind the technological advances.
A special focus of the new state-of-the-art building would be on accommodating a good number of vehicles within the campus in a bid to keep the main roads congestion-free.
Sources said that the token amount will take care of the design and other basic needs of the project. Once finalised, a proper budget for the construction of the new Vidhan Sabha would be announced.
Interestingly, the issue had come up even before the speaker made the announcement as replying to the demand of a Samajwadi Party member that the House should have gymnasium and recreational facilities, parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna said that the UP will have a new Vidhan Sabha.
Sources said that though the land where the new building would be constructed is yet to be identified, it is most likely that a land chunk of around 160 acres once identified during the Akhilesh Yadav government near Chak Gajaria Farms on the Sultanpur road for the purpose could be finalised.
The official also said that this would not mean that the Vidhan Sabha would come up on the same piece of land. The land would be identified once a detailed study of the project including its design is conceptualised, sources said.
When contacted, parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna confirmed that a new Vidhan Sabha would be constructed soon.
Sources said that the opinion of speaker Satish Mahana and the Vidhan Sabha secretariat would also be taken by the consultant on the design.
