Imphal, Oct 23 (IANS): Manipur Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi on Monday inspected the under-construction new state Civil Secretariat complex, whose construction has been halted for over 10 years owing to cases pending in Manipur High Court.

The Chief Secretary exuded confidence that the Secretariat building at the Imphal East district’s Mantripukhri area would soon be completed.

Officials said that the construction work, which began in 2010 by a Kolkata based construction firm, was reassigned to another construction firm in 2021 following failure of the first company to keep its commitment.

The project was again cancelled by the state government for delay in construction by the second firm after about 75-85 per cent of the work was completed.

The second construction firm moved the High Court, and since the matter is pending in the court, construction has been halted till the court gives its final verdict.

Joshi, along with Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD), Ningombam Subhash and other officials of the department, visited the site on Monday.

In April this year, Manipur High Court had asked the state government to complete the construction work of the new civil Secretariat to decongest traffic in the areas where the civil secretariat is currently located at Babupara, in Imphal city.

The High Court is likely to take up the case for hearing on November 2, officials said.