By IANS,
Mumbai : Four days after a major fire gutted four of its seven floors, work resumed in the Maharashtra state secretariat, Mantralaya, here Monday.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan along with other ministers and staffers started the day with a condolence meeting for the five people who died in the fire Thursday.
Expressing grief, Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar extended their support for the families of the deceased.
While Chavan has resumed work from the first floor office of Health Minister Suresh Shetty, Pawar will be working from the second floor office of Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare.
A team of experts after inspecting the building, gave the safety clearance to three lower floors of the ground-plus-six floor building Saturday.
Other ministers, key officials and other department heads will operate from alternative offices in the Maharashtra Legislature (Vidhan Bhavan) building or from the new administrative building – both across the road from Mantralaya.
The Public Works Department (PWD) has requisitioned 56,000 sq feet in the G.T. Hospital, near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and another 30,000 sq feet at the MTNL telephone exchange building near Mantralaya.
In an appeal, Chavan and Pawar asked people whose applications were pending at Mantralaya level to provide copies of the original applications, acknowledgements and enclosures to their respective tehsil offices.
The appeal, appearing in the media, said that it would help the government in speeding up the reconstruction of records.
The Mantralaya is expected to be fully functional within three months, according to PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
A major fire Thursday gutted large parts of the iconic building which was doused after nearly 27 hours.