Rajnath Singh is among the Union ministers who have been allotted bungalows
Several new Union ministers will be able to move in to their allotted bungalows by the end of July after repair work is completed in nearly 25 houses vacated by previous occupants.
"Some 25 bungalows occupied by UPA ministers have been vacated and handed over to us. It will take about two-three weeks to complete the ongoing repair work including white-wash and then these will be ready for new allottees to occupy," CPWD Director General V K Gupta said today.
The Directorate of Estate has allotted Type VIII and Type VII bungalows to 35 ministers, out of which nine would continue to stay in their old addresses as these have been regularised.
Almost all senior ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Civial Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju have been allotted houses.
Mr Gupta said since all these Lutyens' zone bungalows have become very old, these will be demolished and reconstructed in a phased manner.
There are 516 bungalows in the Lutyens' zone which were constructed more than 80 years ago.
The reconstruction of Type VIII and Type VII bungalows are estimated to cost about Rs 3,082 crore, Mr Gupta said.
Besides Type VIII and Type VII bungalows, the North Avenue and South Avenue flats for MPs will also be reconstructed. However, Mr Gupta said a decision on the type of houses to be constructed in North Avenue and South Avenue is yet to be taken.
"Housing Committees of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have to take a call on South Avenue and North Avenue. It could be duplex or three-storey flats," he said.
There are 417 flats at North Avenue and South Avenue.
CPWD, which has undertaken the prestigious project of the construction of the Afghanistan Parliament in Kabul, is going to complete it in mid-2015, Mr Gupta said.
The CPWD is also undertaking border fencing work at high altitudes in Uttarakhand and Sikkim.