In 2 years,forest bhavan to come up in Shivajinagar

Pune district is all set to have a Forest bhavan at Bhamburda in Shivajinagar in two years. The excavation for the construction has been completed. All offices of the forest department and a library will be housed under this one office. The bhumi pujan of the site was done last year in April and the work is being carried out by the Public Works Department.

The state government has allocated Rs 24.29 crore for the bhavan. On Thursday,state forest minister Dr Patangrao Kadam visited the site to monitor the progress of the administrative office. Incidentally,for the forest department prior to 1987,Pune was the main headquarters which was later shifted to Nagpur.

According to the chief conservator of forests Nitin Kakodkar,the forest department has its offices spread at various places in the city. “We have our offices all across the city but we don’t have a place of our own. This building will bring all the department of our office under one roof which will make coordination easier,’’said Kakodkar. Of the Rs 24 crore,Rs 17 crore has been allotted to the PWD for the construction work. National (India)Contractor and Engineer,Mumbai will be carrying out the work. Besides the adminstrative building there would be rest houses for VVIPs and eight general rooms.