Patil moves from 340 to 4-room house

After the 340 rooms of Rashtrapati Bhavan, a four bedroom bungalow in New Delhi will be President Pratibha Patil's temporary residence after she steps down July 24 before moving into her retirement home in Pune in about a month.

"Bungalow No 2 on Tughlaq Lane has been allotted to Pratibha Patil and she is scheduled to move in on or before July 25," said an official of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

Moving out: PM Manmohan Singh watches as President Pratibha Patil waves on her arrival to deliver her farewell speech at Parliament in New Delhi. Pic/AFP

Under the Ministry of Urban Development, the CPWD is responsible for constructing and maintaining the government's residential and office complexes.

Brisk work is on to give final touches to the premises. Surrounded by trees, the bungalow, which is painted in white, has a lush green lawn.

"It took us barely 15 days to work on the bungalow, which is now absolutely ready. We started the work on July 1 and it has been nicely done up," said another CPWD offcial, without giving any more details.

"We have made some changes as requested by her. We have carved out a small puja room in a portion of house," the official said. "We also have added some security features," theofficial added.

Among Patil's neighbours will be Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi. Raigad, a bungalow in Pune, has been selected as Patil's retirement home. u00a0

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