Maharashtra legislative council chairman issues show-cause notice to contractor for MLA hostel restoration delay

Mumbai: State legislative council chairman Ram Shinde has issued a show-cause notice to Tricon Construction, the contractor for the repair and refurbishment of the Majestic MLA hostel.

The show-cause notice was issued early this week.A heritage II-A structure at Colaba, the proposal was to restore the external facade of Majestic hostel, while restructuring the interiors. The hostel comprising 68 rooms and two presidential suites was to be completed by September. Each room will be approximately 450 sq ft.Shinde, who is overseeing the project, said, “The work will now be completed only in 2027. The work has been delayed.”In 2018, when the proposal for the hostel repair and refurbishment was finalised, the cost was estimated at Rs 70 crore, which has now escalated to Rs 118 crore.The original building, Majestic Hotel, was designed by architect W A Chambers, and was inaugurated in 1909. In the 60s, when the state assembly worked out of what is now the state police headquarters, the hotel was converted into a hostel for MLAs as it was close to the then assembly. In the 80s, when the Vidhan Bhavan at Nariman Point was commissioned, the assembly moved but the hostel continued to be operational.