Delhi to get its first multimedia tech library
Due to added specifications, the construction has missed its August 2024 completion target. The project cost was ₹6.8 crore at the time of commissioning.
The Capital is set to get its first multimedia high tech library, the JP Narayan library at Mandir Marg by March next year, officials from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) said, adding that ₹14.6 crore has been sanctioned for the project.
The library construction has missed its August 2024 completion target due to added specifications and the project cost was also ₹6.8 crore at the time of commissioning.
Kuljeet Chahal, NDMC vice chairman, said: “The construction of the JPN library will create a space for learning, fostering intellectual growth, and access to information in the NDMC area. The under-construction library consists of a three storey structure with lifts and a multipurpose hall on the ground floor and library halls on the first and second floors.” At a meeting on December 18, the council sanctioned additional funds for completing the civil work, furniture, and fire-fighting works.
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The civic body said that the three-storeyed structure, with a total area of 2,250 sqm (750 sqm on each floor), will have provision for 30,000 books and a sitting capacity of 200 people. While the work on building the structure is completed, it will take another 4-5 months to make the facility fully operational.
There will be a multipurpose auditorium and green room -- to be used by students of Navyug School -- on the ground floor. On the first floor, there will be a children activity area with board games, clay activities, colouring, and painting activities for 12 kids besides the sitting space.
“To give a unique look to this place, interiors of first and second floors will have acoustical fabric panels and suspended linear lighting for proper reading,” an MCD official said. A multimedia visual room for small seminars with gatherings of 50 persons, book launches, audio video presentations etc will be made on the first floor. It will also have a research room for PhD scholars on second floor, breakout zone on terrace, a newspaper room, and an e-library with over 5 lakh e-books and catalogues.
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NDMC officials said that the project was conceptualized by the union ministry of culture which had requested the NDMC for construction of JP Narayan library near Birla Mandir. NDMC had submitted a conceptual report to Ministry of Culture in 2014. Central Public Works Department (CPWD) gave ₹2.16 crore of the fund to NDMC in February 2016 for construction of the facility while the balance is borne by NDMC.
An NDMC official said that the initial project estimate was prepared based on plinth area rates of 2012, and the work was awarded in 2020. “Moreover, at the time of the award of work, the amount of GST was 12% of the amount of work done, while in 2021, the GST rate increased to 18%,” the official said.