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Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Urban Development will be reviewing the working of Central Public Works Department tomorrow, CPWD, which has recently completed 150 years of its existence has the following achievements to its credit in the last one year.
A. Works
· CPWD achieved a workload of Rs. 4212 crores during 2004-05. The target for 2005-06 is Rs. 6130 crores.
· About 850 number of General Pool accommodation have been added by CPWD during 2004-05.
· Non-residential General Pool Accommodation covering 35000 sqm. has been completed during 2004-05.
· 4517 quarters for other ministries and departments have been completed during 2004-05.
Amongst the major works completed during the year 2004-05 are the Exhibition complex for ITPO at Bangalore; Library and computer center for Assam University, Silchar; Barracks for CRPF at Silchar, Bangalore and other places; BSF Campus development at Raigarh, Rajasthan; Staff quarters for Income tax at Bangalore, Ultadanga (WB); Bhasha Bhawan at Kolkatta; National Test House at Kolkatta and many other works.
· CPWD is actively involved in carrying out development works in the North east. In the last year it has carried out construction works valued at Rs. 120 crore in this region.
B. Some of the other important achievements of CPWD;
· A drive has been undertaken to provide roof top rain water harvesting structures for Govt. buildings in Delhi. CPWD has provided this system in 49 buildings so far and work is going on in 15 other buildings.
· The installation of roof top rain water harvesting systems in all Govt. buildings, being designed by CPWD , where it is required to prevent degradation of the water table, has now been made mandatory.
· Besides waste water re-cycling has also been introduced in CPWD projects.
· Another area of thrust of CPWD this year has been the construction of eco-friendly buildings. Building designs are now made to ensure that the environment is not degraded by the building activity and after completion of the project the buildings consume less energy and water.
· In addition energy saving measures are also being advocated. In the first instance these measures have been introduced in Rashtrapati Bhawan and Shram Shakti Bhawan.
· Promoting use of fly-ash as building material is being actively engaged in by CPWD. About 25 million fly ash bricks have been used on CPWD works in 2004-05. Department plans to use 33 million bricks in 2005-06. Use of fly ash in concrete has been now allowed under strict controlled conditions on CPWD works.
· CPWD has taken steps to promote use of standardized building components, which would help in reduction of wastage, quality improvement, optimization of labour and reduction in time.
· CPWD has brought out guidelines for designing buildings to make them friendly to aged and disabled persons. All new projects incorporate these measures. About 180 new buildings have already been designed with these features. Retrofitting of old buildings has also been undertaken. 30 buildings in Delhi have been provided with such measures.
· CPWD has also published a manual on repair and rehabilitation of structures in distress. The manual produced by CPWD has been well received by the professionals as a single comprehensive source of information on this issue.
· Steps to improve management:
In order to improve project management, project team concept has been introduced in the department to handle large or sensitive projects.
Changes have been made in contract conditions to make contracts stringent.
Incentive clause has been introduced for encouraging early completion of projects.
Earnest money is now taken with the application to deter non serious bidders.
Escalation clauses in contracts have been modified to account for market fluctuation in prices of cement and steel which are major materials.
Improvement in maintenance
Annual maintenance plans are now being made in advance to plan and streamline activity. More interaction with RWA’s, in a formal manner, is mandated to all field officers to ensure better feedback.
Upgradation of specifications of houses is being undertaken at time of vacation of houses. External finishes of residential quarters is also being upgraded to give them a better appearance. Proposal to outsource maintenance is also under consideration.
Tsunami relief
CPWD has placed the services of 24 Engineers at the disposal of the A & N Administration to assist them in re-construction works. CPWD is also assisting the Ministry of Home Affairs in procuring materials for building temporary shelters for the affected.
For building permanent houses and other facilities in the UT of Pondicherry and the A & N islands, the CPWD has submitted a project report, which envisages construction of 6650 houses in Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Terressa, Katchal and Nancowry Islands.
HRK
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