Bhubaneswar, Aug. 13: The state government has begun the process to acquire land for the new civic body headquarters and the proposed intelligent city command control centre at Satya Nagar.

The general administration department has been asked to clear a four-acre plot opposite the crematorium at Satya Nagar for the project. At present, there are about 12 government quarters on this plot.

"The site is suitable for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation headquarters and the city command control centre proposed under the smart city project. About half of the identified land is vacant and the rest has government quarters," said a senior official of the housing and urban development department.

The official said the quarters would be demolished once the general administration department finds a proper rehabilitation facility for the government quarter occupants. "After they are relocated, we will demolish the structures to vacate the land," the official added.

According to a survey by the housing and urban development department, the general administration department will transfer the four acres of land, which is segregated into 14 plots. "There is a process to transfer the land for such purpose. We have provided all the details to the officials concerned and asked them to do the needful," the official said.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said there was a need to expedite the process to set up the civic body headquarters and the intelligent city command control centre since many smart city projects would be monitored through these facilities. "We have identified a suitable plot for the project. We hope that the work will start in the next three to four months," Jena said.

During their last council meeting, the civic body officials discussed the design of these new buildings. The new civic body office building will be G+9 structure with state-of-the-art technology. The tentative budget for the project is Rs66 crore. The building will have the office of Integrated City Operations and Management Centres (ICOMC).

"The ICOMC will house the master system integrator, which will manage the intelligent traffic control and management system, the multi-modal transport system, cashless transactions, bill payment, transport needs, entertainment and all other transactions," said an official of the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited.

He added that the centre would have a large video wall linked to CCTVs installed in various corners of the city.