The bungalow at 2 Circular Road, earmarked for the Legislative Council chairman. Telegraph picture

Patna, Jan. 3: Legislative Council chairman Tarakant Jha will have to wait for at least three months before moving into his official residence though its earlier occupant, animal and fish resources minister Giriraj Singh, has vacated it.

Reason: Singh, who lived in the sprawling bungalow on 2 Circular Road for the past five years with his menagerie of domestic animals, has left his erstwhile home in a bad shape.

Jha, who lives in a house on Boring Canal Road, confirmed the delay and said: “I have not personally visited the bungalow yet, but the executive engineers of the building construction department, who have inspected the house, told me that I will have to wait for at least three months before I can move into the bungalow earmarked for the chairman of the Legislative Council.”

He added: “The engineers also told me that the renovation has become challenging because of the animals reared in the house.”

Singh used to keep 150 goats, 10 emus, 10 rabbits and five ducks in the bungalow. He moved to his new house on Kautilya Marg on December 15. Sources said the size of the menagerie had also been cut down. Singh now has 25 goats, eight emus, six rabbits and four ducks.

The animals have, however, left their mark on their previous home.

A senior officer of the building construction depart- ment said: “The campus has been left in a bad shape by the animals reared by the minister. We do not usually need to work hard on the garden and campus of bungalows. But the present situation is unparallel. This has happened because of the enclosures made for emus and goats. Levelling the ground is also a tough task for us.”

He added: “Even the rear of the bungalow is in a bad shape. A room was used to rear rabbits. The main challenge is to clean the waste of the animals scattered all over the bungalow. We also need to work hard to renovate the kitchen.”

The minister, who had showered his loving care on the domestic animals, was unavailable for comment.

Building construction department secretary Sudhir Kumar said he could not guarantee when the bungalow would be fit to live in. He said: “Our engineers have inspected the house earmarked for the chairman of the Council. I cannot tell exactly when it will be ready.”