Thaindian News

New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) swanky new headquarters, inaugurated by Home Minister P. Chidambaram here Thursday, is the tallest building in the city and gives a bird’s eye view of the capital.
The 28-storey state-of-the-art civic centre, named after Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) founder, is 112 meters high and is taller than the historic Qutab Minar.

The MCD will move into the new centre in two weeks.

From its rooftop, one can have a perfect aerial view of the Mughal-era Red Fort on one side as well as the British-built New Delhi.

Delhi Finance Minister A.K. Walia said: “The aerial view from this building would be one of its attractive features as one can see the whole span of old and new parts of Delhi together.”

The building is spread over 12 acres and is expected to witness more than 20,000 footfalls a day.

Its design was selected through an all-India competition. The complex has eight escalators, a 1,000-seat auditorium, an art gallery and a restaurant.

Mayor Kanwar Sain said: “This new building would be a relief for the public and office bearers who were earlier shuttling between various MCD departments in Town Hall, Kashmere Gate and Civil Lines. In this new building, all the departments will come under one roof.

“The civic body will be leasing out 40 percent of built up area to income tax department and it will share the common facilities of the building. By this move, the MCD will earn Rs.1,800 crore in revenue,” Sain said.