The decks have been cleared for giving the Delhi Transport Corporation headquarters at I.P. Bus Depot on Ring Road a new look with the construction of a modern green building and introduction of a new traffic circulation plan within and around the depot premises.
The Delhi Cabinet recently approved construction of the multi-storey environment-friendly building which would have 27,668 sq. m of covered area and would be constructed by the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation.
The project envisages redevelopment of the entire six acre of the depot in which the headquarters is located. While the financial clearance for the Rs.298-crore project has also been obtained, the DSIIDC is now awaiting sanction from the Delhi Urban Arts Commission for the design.
Thereafter, sources in the DSIIDC said the approval for building plans would be taken from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the contractors shortlisted for the construction activity. Once all the approvals are in place, it would take two-and-a-half to three years to construct the building. “It would be sequential construction as the DTC offices and other facilities would first have to be relocated to ensure that there is no disruption of their work,” said a senior official.
The DTC headquarters at present are located in an over 50-year-old building and it does not do justice to the office's image that governs the largest CNG-operated public transport fleet in the world.
But all that is due to change soon. The DSIIDC has prepared a modern design for the new building and the depot. The architects for the project are Suresh Goel and Associates and the proposed additions and alterations at the IP Bus Depot have incorporated new technologies to support the green building concept.
To begin with innovative day lighting techniques, vertical louvers would be used to allow north light in abundance. Apart from the natural light enhancement system, there would also be terrace cooling, induced stack effect in atriums and west façade shading to keep the temperature and light flow in the building around the comfortable level.
Apart from housing the offices of DTC officials, the new building would also have a public zone, café areas, fire refuge terrace and restrooms. The terrace would also function as café extension and conference extension.
The renovation and reconstruction work would also include a new traffic circulation plan for buses entering and exiting the depot. While they would continue to enter from near the temple entry in the front, they would exit from near the Metro pillar side. Vehicles entering from the underground basement parking of the new proposed building would also exit from underneath the Delhi Metro corridor that passes adjacent to the complex.
As part of the project development, three existing buildings in the complex would be demolished. The complex at present has various structures like ticket counters, workshop, guard room, depot administration office, headquarters building, fuel tank, washing pit and CNG tank spread over a covered area of about 8970 sq.m.
In the new building, the DTC headquarters office would itself be spread over nearly 8,000 sq. m.
