VISAKHAPATNAM: The construction of the headquarters of the newly formed 18th Railway Zone in the country, South Coast Railway Zone (SCoR) in Port City would start in a couple of months with a few modifications of the designs. The railway authorities are sending two designs to the railway board to select the better one. Once the design was finalized, then tenders would be floated around New Year.
Though the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is under active consideration of the Railway Board according to Union Railway Minister Aswin Vaishnaw, the construction of structures for the headquarters would start soon.
The DPR is totally confined to the railway lines, jurisdiction, and the number of divisions of the new Zone. A committee of Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) officers set up to review the DPR. Committee submitted its report on March 16 of this year. The government has already sanctioned Rs. 106 crores for the construction.
A land parcel of 13 acres was identified in Wireless Colony near Visakhapatnam Railway Station for the SCoR headquarters office complex. Out of 13 acres, eight acres of land were earmarked for the office complex with a multi-storied zonal headquarters office. Each floor of the seven-storied building is having a plinth area of 4000 to 5000 Sqm for the convenience of the staff.
Railways were given 52 acres of land at Mudasarlova by the state government as compensation for the land acquired for the road widening and others from the DRM office to the Railway station. Of which 42 acres are clear, but the railways are yet to get the sanction letters. Initially, railway authorities planned to construct headquarters in that land parcel as the Wireless Colony is congested with narrow roads.
The new zone will have 17,000 employees in 18 departments including chief engineer, commercial, mechanical, construction, operations, medical, personal, finance, electrical, maintenance and others. “Design would be finalized in this month and ground would be prepared for the tender process. Based on the design, the construction cost would also be changed. Once the tenders were floated, the construction of the world-class headquarters would be ready in one year,” the DRM said.
If Railway authorities get land at Mudasarlova on time, then they would prefer the construction of the General Manager office complex or Zonal Headquarters at Mudasarlova. Otherwise, the authorities would go for construction at Wireless Colony by demolishing a few individual quarters in the area to widen the roads, sources said.
