PU panel for handing Gandhi Bhawan conservation project to external agency

With Panjab University yet to initiate conservation work at the iconic Gandhi Bhawan, a varsity panel has recommended that the project be entrusted to an external agency.

With Panjab University yet to initiate conservation work at the iconic Gandhi Bhawan, a varsity panel has recommended that the project be entrusted to an external agency.

The panel recommended that the project be given to Dronah, as recommended by the funding agency, but with certain conditions. (HT PHOTO)

The matter was brought before PU’s building committee after Getty Foundation, the organisation that is funding conservation efforts, wrote to the university asking them to entrust its primary consultant, Dronah, with processing tenders and executing the project. Previously, nothing had come of the tendering process initiated by the university.

Terms and conditions

The panel recommended that the project be given to Dronah, as recommended by the funding agency, but with certain conditions. The panel also observed that since Dronah is an external agency, the varsity rules will not be binding on it.

The conditions laid out for the agency include that the detailed notice inviting tenders be shared with PU beforehand, and the eligibility conditions for bidders be framed to inculcate healthy competition.

It stipulated that the defect liability period for the work be seven to eight years. The panel also constituted a committee that will look into the tenders floated, and finalisation of the same.

Conservation plan

The US-based foundation has provided a ₹1.4-crore grant to the department of Gandhian and peace studies for the conservation project. The varsity, which has prepared a conservation management plan for the iconic building, was the recipient of Getty Foundation’s 2015 ‘keeping it modern’ grant.

The implementation grant was awarded in 2020 to PU with a one-year deadline. This was the second such grant from the foundation, which had earlier given the varsity ₹87 lakh for the Bhawan’s conservation management plan.

It is expected that conservation work will take place as per the plan chalked out by the varsity.

The first phase of the project will see the refurbishment of Gandhi Bhawan’s reflecting pool, after which the focus will shift to the outer panels and roof.

The conservation plan was decided after extensive background research, testing of materials, and technical analysis by a team of experts and organisations, including Dronah and Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Madras.