Ghaziabad: Ghaziabad Development Authority’s new headquarters in Madhuban Bapudham will be ready by March next year, ending nearly three decades of operations from a shopping complex-turned-office in Navyug Market. The structure, coming up on a 5,000 sqm plot at a cost of Rs 112 crore, will have two blocks. Officials said the building plan for the headquarters was vetted by IIT Roorkee and will be executed as per Green Building Code.“The existing GDA office was previously renovated to give it the look of an office as we see it today. However, it has many flaws, such as its corridor not being wide enough, and there is no actual space for visitors, among others,” a GDA official said.Despite the development authority having an annual budget of thousands of crores, its head office has minimal firefighting measures. The fire department previously wrote to GDA to ramp up the fire safety measures. Over the years, there have been several instances where important files were destroyed in a fire at the current office building.The building’s structural strength also falls short of the mark, which is a major concern as Delhi-NCR comes under seismic zone 4, making the building prone to damage during an earthquake.The current office also incurs an average monthly power bill of around Rs 20 lakh, and there is little scope for switching to solar energy. Estimates show that the Authority has likely paid over Rs 12 crore in power bills alone.With the new office, GDA aims to cut down on this cost, as the building will be equipped with infrastructure that can support solar power, the official said.
