Chandigarh, May 23 -- Panjab University's South Campus will now get its own Student Centre and library-cum-reading hall with the UT administration granting conceptual approval to additions in the master plan of the university's Sector-25 campus. The approval came after the UT's town planning wing reviewed it. It had got clearance from the technical sub-committee of the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee in May 2024, followed by approval from the main committee in August 2024. Based on these recommendations, formal approval was granted. As part of the plan, nine new academic blocks have been proposed, in addition to the 12 that currently house 16 departments in Sector 25. A dedicated library-cum-reading hall has been proposed to supplement the main Sector-14 campus library. Currently, the South Campus doesn't have any major library and it has been a demand of student parties for years. The South Campus will also have its own Student Centre, to be known as 'Students Activity Centre', which will come up at a cost of Rs.10 crore. PU vice-chancellor Renu Vig said, "What will make this version different is that it will be surrounded by an area for sports and recreational activities. Currently, the South Campus only has provisions for indoor sports. We plan to add 2.75 acres land for sports field." The Students Activity Centre will be located on the ground beside the government school on the South Campus. Vig added that tendering for this will be started immediately. The PU multi-purpose auditorium is also a part of the redevelopment plan. While it was set to open in 2025, it was delayed due to tendering issues. V-C Vig said that the inception of the redevelopment programme will start with the multi-purposeauditorium. While the V-C had given the target to hold this year's convocation here, it has now been shifted to next year. With a seating capacity of over 2,400, it will have a main auditorium with three small seminar halls with capacity to accommodate 130 to 600 people. The total covered area will be 1.4 lakh sq ft and the auditorium will include a dining area, parking area, approach roads, substation, power backup, AC plant, elevators, firefighting system and CCTV cameras. It will have a VIP workshop, green rooms and rehearsal rooms as well. The construction of the auditorium was inaugurated by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2009. Till now, over Rs.80 crore has already been spent on the project Most of PU's traffic troubles stem from the fact that there is no parking near the PU gates to park vehicles. Now, a multilevel basement parking facility with a capacity of 700 vehicles is proposed near the UIET Gate. Residential facilities will be significantly expanded. The master plan includes four girls' hostels, two boys' hostels-including one new facility-and an international hostel to accommodate overseas students. Of these, three girls' hostels, one boys' hostel, and the international hostel are already functional. A four-storeyed technology block near the dental hospital is also in the pipeline....