Mantralaya fire: Renovation after confirmation of safety

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said renovation of the fire-ravaged state secretariat building will start after the safety of the top floors is established."We are looking at a new proposal regarding safety norms. The renovation can be done with minor modifications," Chavan told reporters here.He said according to the visual structural audit of the building, it was safe."Now we are awaiting the non-destructive testing report," he said.[caption id="attachment_367342" align="alignleft" width="380"] PTI[/caption]The departments shifted to other buildings, including those in the GT hospital complex, the MTNL and PWD buildings, would be kept for office use, but the offices at the World Trade Centre would be shifted after sometime, he said.When asked about file reconstruction in the departments held by him post the Mantralaya fire, Chavan said 100-250 files are being generated on a daily basis."Files in the urban development department relating to MHADA, CIDCO and MMRDA are safe," he informed.To a poser on if he was satisfied with the presentation made last night that irrigation potential had increased by 5.17 percent in the last decade, the Chief Minister said he had asked the department to make a factual assessment."The earlier figure that only 0.1 percent land had been brought under irrigation in the last ten years was shocking," he said.Planning, revenue, agriculture and water resources departments will co-ordinate and prepare a detailed report on the status of irrigation in the state, he added.PTI