Delay-plagued Mini Secretariat project in Srinagar faces cost escalation

Srinagar, Mar 18: The much-touted Mini Secretariat project in Srinagar's Batamaloo area continues to languish in developmental limbo, with officials citing funding shortages as the primary obstacle to progress.

Despite being initiated in 2017, the project has seen minimal advancement beyond foundation work.

The ambitious project, which aims to house 50 government departments under one roof to streamline governance, has now seen its budget balloon from an initial estimate of `48.23 crore to `80.26 crore according to a revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) currently under departmental review.

Education Minister Sakina Itoo, responding on behalf of the Chief Minister to a question raised by Member Tariq Hameed Karra last week, informed the Legislative Assembly that only `9.82 crore has been spent on the project so far. This includes `82 lakh from an initial release of `1 crore, and an additional `9 crore incurred during the current financial year.

"It is pertinent to mention that the pile foundation work of the project has been completed," Itoo stated in her address to the House.

The Mini Secretariat was conceptualised during the PDP-BJP coalition government in 2017, following a District Development Board meeting chaired by the then Chief Minister on October 4 of that year. Construction officially began in 2018.

The project required relocating the 62-year-old Batamaloo bus terminal to Parimpora on the outskirts of Srinagar, a move that reportedly left hundreds of vendors and shopkeepers without livelihoods. The business community continues to express resentment over this decision.

"It was illogical, and now you are witnessing that in seven years there has been no mini-secretariat. The only thing the government achieved was to snatch our livelihood," said Bashir Ahmad, a trader whose shop closed following the bus terminal's relocation.

According to the original proposal, the 114-kanal complex was designed to include basement parking for 80 vehicles, parks, food courts, elevators, waiting rooms, surveillance cameras, round-the-clock security, and banking facilities. The first phase would have featured 32 office spaces, 80 staff rooms, 32 staff halls, and two spacious meeting halls, all serviced by six elevators.

The project was intended to reduce time spent on inter-departmental dealings by housing them together, while also accommodating offices slated for relocation under the 2035 Srinagar Master Plan.