Navi Mumbai: CIDCO constructs 12-storey tower in 96 days

Even as cities mourn depletion of green cover, a milestone in concretisation has been scored by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) by erecting a 12-storeyed residential tower with 96 tenements in 96 days.

Located in the Ulwe node, adjoining the Bamandongri railway station, Navi Mumbai, it’s the first fast-tracked building in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Built using the renowned advanced precast technology, the project is part of CIDCO’s mass housing scheme under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY). The corporation claimed the achievement will help fulfil the PMAY motto of ‘Housing for All’ in the fastest way.

Even as CIDCO’s public relations network is checking if such a feat has been accomplished elsewhere in the country, officials said that prefabricated technology was used in China for erecting jumbo Covid centres within six days of the infection’s outbreak in 2020.

While prefabricated construction requires engineering wood and gypsum and can be disassembled, precast construction technology is a system of casting concrete in a reusable mould or form, which is treated in a controlled environment and conveyed to the construction site.

According to CIDCO officials, the agency had set a target of ‘Mission 96’, of completing the construction in a short time. Accordingly, contractor M/s Larsen & Toubro has used precast technology for ultra-rapid construction to build safe and durable homes. Flagged off on April 4 this year, the 12-storeyed residential tower was completed on July 9. “As CIDCO is constructing around 85,000 houses, this technology is the best way to complete a project on time,” said an official.

The construction of the tower involved production and installation of 1,985 precast elements of the superstructure, along with architectural finishes and MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) over a built-up area of 64,000 sq. ft.