NEW DELHI: Weird but true. The state-run Janpath Hotel in central Delhi is the new official address of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), which operates under the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The authority, responsible for 200 zoos and their inmates, has hired five rooms on the first floor of the hotel in the heart of the capital at a whopping Rs 15 lakh per month to accommodate its 18 employees who were shunted out of Bikaner House when the NDA government agreed to hand it over to the Rajasthan government.
The CZA’s request for space in the newly-inaugurated Rs 209 crore environment ministry office, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, at Jor Bagh in South Delhi was turned down on grounds that there is no space available to accommodate it. Interestingly, Janpath Hotel is home to two other central government offices—Ministry of Women and Child Development and Cabinet Secretariat.
But a plush hotel room comes with its own set of problems. The CZA officials are crammed for space, with six personnel working out of one room, with hardly any space to keep files and documents. Some files have been dumped in the passage outside the rooms while others lie scattered on sofas inside.
The CZA is not the only entity to have been left without a roof. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), responsible for protection of the dwindling tiger population in India, has moved to the National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) Bhawan at Lodhi Road from Bikaner House.
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) northern region office has shifted to Trikoot-I, Bhikaji Cama Place. The Ozone Cell of the environment ministry has been running from India Habitat Centre for last so many years and similar is the case with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) which runs from a building near Karkardooma in East Delhi.
The foundation of the Indira Paryavaran Bhawan—the country’s first zero energy building—was laid in 2009 by the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and was inaugurated in February 2014 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Initially, it was envisioned that the office building will accommodate all core units such as NTCA, WCCB, CPCB and CZA at one place for better co-ordination and efficiency. It accommodates 600 people of over 30 divisions from forest, environment, climate change, administration, finance to RTI cell and Project Elephant among others. Eighty employees of five divisions have not found place.
Said a disgruntled CZA official: “We were told that the new building will accommodate all offices in one wing but after inauguration we have been left to find a place on our own and have to bear the cost of rented space from the meagre annual budgets. Earlier, some were promised that they would get space in Paryavaran Bhawan, the office vacated by the ministry, in CGO Complex, but now that has also been ruled out.”
“This means that Rs 209 crore spent on Indira Paryavaran Bhawan is sheer waste of money when it cannot accommodate its other offices. Why didn’t the ministry keep in mind the number of people and offices it has to accommodate before constructing the building?” asked a senior ministry official on condition of anonymity.
Indira Paryavaran Bhawan is India’s first on site Net Zero Building which means it generates it own power from renewable source of energy. With an installed capacity of 930 KW peak power, the building has the largest rooftop solar system among multi storied buildings in India and is expected to be a trend setter in the country with green technology.
It has been designed as the highest green-rated building in the country and uses 75 per cent of natural daylight to reduce energy consumption. Effective ventilation has been achieved by orientating the building in an East-West direction, separating different blocks with connecting corridors and having a large central court yard.