PANJIM: The State government is optimistic that it will complete the construction of the new building of High Court of Bombay at Goa by March 31, 2020. Presently, the project, which has already been delayed, has 80 per cent of its civil work completed.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said the vast court complex will completed by March 31, 2020, following which it will be handed over to the court authorities for commissioning in the following month.
Confirming that the project has taken a long time, Sawant, stated that ‘with the help of everybody’, they are now on the verge of completing the project.
“The civil and interior works should be completed by March 31, 2020 so that we are in a position to do the hand over to the court authorities,” said Sawant, while speaking to reporters after conducting the site inspection of the site at Porvorim.
“Our intention is that the High Court is shifted during its vacation period in April-May and the new building can be commissioned in the next month” he added, while indicating that the High Court could start functioning from the new premises by June 2020.
The High Court has been monitoring the project and Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, Pradeep Nandrajog, had inspected the site during his recent visit to Goa. The Chief Justice is also likely to be invited to inaugurate the complex.
The Rs 90 crore building will comprise of seven court halls, separate cabins, video conferencing rooms, a conference hall, an administrative section, a visitors’ room, etc. The project that started in October 2014 was expected to have been completed by December 2018 and the deadline was later pushed to October 2019 but has been delayed again.
M/s M V Rao is the contractor for the project and M/s LKS India Pvt Ltd is the consultant. One of its representatives informed reporters that 88 per cent civil work and 24 per cent interior works have been completed so far whereas tender for landscaping will be issued within a week.
When asked to comment about the fate of the existing high court building at Altinho, the CM said the lower courts can be shifted there, until the time the new District & Sessions Court Complex at Merces is ready. “After the shifting of the High Court, the lower court functioning from the Spaces building can be shifted to Altinho until the Merces court complex is ready in April 2021. It will save payment of huge rent,” he added.
