New government office complex mooted at Attipra

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government is considering shifting all the government offices in Thiruvananthapuram city which are functioning in rented buildings to under one roof at the proposed Government Complex at Attipra. This is one of the projects being undertaken by the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK). The proposed building will be constructed on a BOT basis on six acres of land at Attipra. Revenue Principal Secretary Niveditha P Haran said that the proposal is still under the consideration of the State Government. A final decision will be taken by the Government after considering all aspects. The proposed office complex is not likely  to cause any financial burden to the State Government as it will be constructed on a BOT basis.According to the plan, the building will have five lakh square feet space which can accommodate several offices functioning in various parts of the city. Only 50 per cent of the land will be utilised for the State Government offices and rest will be leased out for other purposes. Central government offices, banks, insurance companies and commercial complexes will come up in the rest of the area.The amount received through the lease of the land and other buildings could be used for the construction of the government complex. As the land identified is near the National Highway, it can attract more institutions to this place. Another project, Swaraj Bhavan at Nanthancode, a common office complex to accommodate all State-level offices under Local Self-Government Department (LSGD),  is yet to take shape. The project was prepared when various offices of LSGD were paying Rs 4,25,000 as rent a month. It was proposed to accommodate 17 offices, including the Commissionerate of Rural Development, Chief Town Planner, Directorate of Urban Affairs, Directorate of Panchayats, Chief Engineer, LSGD, Superintending Engineer, Deputy Director Panchayats, Information Kerala Mission and Executive Director of Kudumbashree. The proposal was to build a  99,207-square feet building on 60 cents of land.