One of the bungalows at Hartali Mor demolished to clear space for construction of New Patliputra Museum. Picture by Deepak Kumar

The old is disappearing to make space for the new at a breakneck speed in the city.

To ensure the timely completion of several ambitious projects, the building construction department has embarked on a demolition drive.

The bungalows between Hartali Mor and LN Mishra Institute of Economic Development and Social Change are being razed to make space for the New Patliputra Museum. Deconstruction of structures to the north of Gandhi Maidan has also begun. The International Convention Centre will come up at the site.

Work order to raze the MLA Flats near R-Block would be awarded in April. The department would soon allot work for the demolition of government quarters at Gardanibagh, where a modern residential centre will be constructed over 290 acres.

“Two of the seven bungalows at the site of the New Patliputra Museum have been razed. The demolition of the third is going on. We plan to remove all the bungalows by March-end. The entire 13.2 acres would be ready for construction,” said a senior building construction department officer.

The department had planned to start the construction of the museum in 2012. The deadline for the project is 2015.

Work has also begun to demolish bungalows north of Gandhi Maidan for the International Convention Centre. A dream project of chief minister Nitish Kumar, the centre would be developed over 12 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 274.2 crore.

At present, the site selected for the project has the residences of district and sessions judges, legislators, superintendent of police and civil surgeon, and the divisional office of the building construction department. But all these will be cleared for the project.

“The tender for the demolition has been awarded. The work has already commenced,” a building construction department officer said. “At present, we are evaluating the pre-qualification bids for this project. It is expected to be complete in a week.”

The two other projects for which older buildings would go under the sledgehammer are the housing for legislators and the modern residential centre at Gardanibagh.

For the first one, the MLA Flats at R-Block, Daroga Prasad Rai Path and Beer Chand Patel Marg are being evacuated. “We had served a notice on legislators in January to evacuate the flats. The rate of evacuation is a bit tardy. We would award tenders for demolition by April.”

The department is still selecting a firm to undertake the re-development of the Gardanibagh area.