ISLAMABAD, March 7: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will spend Rs160 million on the replacement of 30 lifts in Pak Secretariat buildings with modern elevators.

“Highly secure elevators will replace the existing outdated lifts in the Secretariat blocks to ensure security of ministers, bureaucrats and visitors,” a senior CDA official told Dawn on Wednesday.

The elevators to be procured from a reputed international firm will have a number of advanced features including close circuit television (CCTV) cameras and quick response fire retardant systems, the official said.

The latest equipment is likely to be imported from any of the developed countries, including the United States, Germany, France and Japan.

All existing lifts in the Pak Secretariat need to be replaced immediately, as these were installed in early 1960s.

“The CDA usually maintains the elevators, but four or five always remain out of order causing problems to the government employees and visitors,” he said.

The source said interior of some of the lifts that were mostly used by VIPs (ministers and secretaries) had been refurbished but the functional mechanism was still the same.

Installation of ‘highly secure’ elevators is also a part of stringent security measures being taken in the federal capital, especially in and around important buildings, in wake of the recent suicide bombing in Islamabad.

The most commonly used elevators in the world are hydraulic and geared ones. A hydraulic elevator uses a piston at ground level and moves up and down with a basement-level hydraulic pump, while a geared, or traction, lift uses gears, pulleys and counterweights.