Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday suggested short-term and long-term plans to deal with the kind of situation that arose following the major fire broke out at Mantralaya. Short-term measures include relocating various government officers in temporary locations and after carrying out structural investigations with the help of structural engineers and experts go in for the rebuilding of Mantralaya. Pawar at the outset clarified that the Mantralaya makeover should be done by the government and not by using the build-operate-transfer route.
The NCP leader also asked the state government to restore functioning of the administration within 48 hours in a bid to instil faith and confidence among the members of the public. He reminded the government of his administrations response to the serial bomb blasts of March 12, 1993, claiming that it was on his directive that the BSE, where one of the explosions took place, was made functional within 48 hours.
Pawar also held interactions with officials of the national disaster management cell, who opined that the structure would have to be redeveloped if the fire remained for more than six to eight hours. However, he reiterated that the decisions in reconstruction be taken after consulting the structural engineers.