2 banquet halls hanging fire, Mayor proposes another

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, January 22

Even as work on two already approved banquet halls in the city could not be started, Mayor Sarabjit Kaur has proposed to set up another hall in Mani Majra.

According to the Mayor, a piece of about 3 acres of the Municipal Corporation land is lying vacant at Govindpura, Mani Majra, where a banquet hall with an underground multi-level parking and other latest facilities will be built.

“We have readied a proposal in this regard. We will bring the agenda regarding this, hopefully, at a MC House meeting in February. It will be then sent to the UT Administration for a final approval,” said the Mayor. She had earlier raised the matter with UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit.

The 3-acre piece of land recently came under the MC limits after which the plan to build a banquet hall there came up. “It has been a long-standing demand of the local residents. Now that the land is with us, we can plan it,” she shared. “For holding big functions such as marriage, Chandigarh residents have to go to places like Zirakpur and pay about Rs7 lakh. There is no banquet hall in Chandigarh,” said the Mayor.

If the plan is readied, then arranging funds is going to be the main challenge. The civic body will have to seek funds from the Administration. The MC last July gave approval to build a modern banquet hall by razing the existing Janj Ghar in Sector 47. The House approved Rs76.40 crore for the project. As per the plan, the building will have ground, first and second floor and three levels in the basement for the parking of vehicles and other purposes. A meditation centre, a yoga centre, a library, a gym, a dormitory, AC rooms, an open hall, parking for 350 cars in basements, lifts and other facilities have been planned for the project.

The civic body had earlier approved another banquet hall in Industrial Area, Phase 1, but work on both these projects could not be started to date due to the fund crunch.

‘Long-standing demand of local residents’

The 3-acre piece of land at Govindpura, Mani Majra, recently came under the MC limits after which the plan to build a banquet hall there came up. “It has been a long-standing demand of the local residents,” said Mayor Sarabjit Kaur.

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