University revamp faces more delay as contractor dies

The restoration and renovation of the 148-year-old Italian Gothic style main building has been going on at a tardy pace since July 2008. The work is scheduled to finish by the end of December,as assured by UoP vice-chancellor in the recent past. However,the contractor’s death,coupled with other issues that have been hampering the work,could prove to be major roadblocks in meeting the new deadline.

Senior UoP official from the Estate Department said the administration was finding a way to tackle the technical dilemma posed due to the death of Shanbhag. “We could either get the remaining work done with help of a couple of other contractors,who had played a part in the restoration of the main building in the past,or search for a new contractor by floating tenders. Before all this,we have to terminate our contract with Shanbhag’s firm. We have not approached his family yet,” he said.

Built in 1864,the main building of UoP was known as the Governor’s House in the pre-Independence era,before being used for educational purpose. Its restoration work has a financial outlay of Rs 12.46 crore. While the university has spent more than Rs 8.5 crore on the restoration of the main building so far,it has allocated Rs 3 crore in its 2013-14 budget.

The university had appointed four contractors,including Shanbhag,for giving a new lease of life to the main building. While it requires frequent dialogues and discussions between the consultant architects and the contractor for every step of restoration,reported differences among them have been hampering the pace of work,among other reasons.

“Shanbhag’s firm has completed nearly 60 per cent of the allotted work. The rest involves restoration of wooden structures of building and giving finishing touches,among other work. We will ensure speedy execution of the remaining work,” authorities said.