wow factor: The helipad on the roof of the new Police Bhavan. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

The state police headquarters will get a new address from October 12.

The headquarters, now located at the Old Secretariat, will be shifted to the newly constructed Police Bhavan in front of the Gold Club off Bailey Road in the city.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has given his consent to inaugurate the building constructed at a cost of Rs 388.22 crore.

Additional director-general (headquarters) S.K. Singhal said on Friday that preparations for the event to be attended by a host of dignitaries were going on in full swing. “From October 12 all wings of the police department will function under one roof,” he added.

The building, which has seven floors and a basement, has been constructed by the building construction department with base isolation technology to make it earthquake resistant. Even earthquake of a magnitude up to 9 on Richter scale can’t damage the structure.

In 1934, the state had recorded the most-powerful earthquake of 8.4 magnitude.

An engineer with the road construction department said a Police Bhavan is first in the state and fifth in the country. Two such buildings are in Bhuj (Gujarat) and two in Delhi. The base isolation technology utilises lead rubber bearings to isolate the base with the main structure. “This prevents the energy released during earthquake to go up directly to the main structure and cause major damages,” he explained.

Apart from other facilities, the Police Bhavan will have an emergency control centre. It will be helpful in the case of any disaster or other emergency. A helipad has been made on the top floor of the building from where choppers can take off during an emergency.

What is significant is that the building will have solar energy backup of 12 days, which means that it can function without any disruption. An ultra-modern forensic science laboratory has been set up in the building. There will be five blocks with ultra modern facilities such as a transit hostel, a dormitory, a conventional hall, an auditorium with seating capacity of 475 people and a badminton court.

The new building will accommodate the offices of the director-general of police, officials of the criminal investigation department, special branch, government railway police, Bihar military police and the director-general of police (training) and others. The office of the disaster management is also to be shifted on the campus.

The main building will have a parking lot of 300 four-wheelers. The drainage system of the campus is not connected to an outside source because of security reasons.