Parties reluctant to move out of Nariman Point offices

Last week, party offices of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena and other smaller parties received notices from the MMRC, asking them to move to temporary offices in Ballard Estate before December 26. However, a week before the deadline, the parties are far from taking a call.

While the parties say they are ready to move from their current offices, they have expressed reservations with the alternative arrangement provided by the corporation.

Expressing support for the 33.5-km underground project, the Congress said the office at Thackersey House in Ballard Estate was inconvenient for the party. “The alternative office provided is not convenient due to the distance. We are in talks with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority to finalise an office,” said Sachin Sawant, Congress’ state spokesperson and general secretary.

The NCP too said they were for the project but not too happy with sharing office space with other parties. “If we are given the same amount of space as we have currently we will move. But if all parties are in the same building, there will inevitably be controversy as we all belong to different ideologies. We are in discussions with the MMRC on this,” said Nawab Malik, NCP spokesperson.

A source at the construction site said there was still quite sometime for the office building to be completed. “The civil work might be completed by December-end but after that the interiors will be done,” he said.

But the MMRC doesn’t believe this will hamper its plans. “Most parties will move in with their own interiors and if they need anything we can arrange for it. We have given them notices so they can move out soon. Our contractors are eagerly waiting to begin construction. Once they vacate, we can begin work on the Metro,” said R Ramana, Executive Director (Planning), MMRC.