The Central Vista is an iconic 3 km stretch in the heart of New Delhi that runs from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate. Flanked by large...
The Central Vista is an iconic 3 km stretch in the heart of New Delhi that runs from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate. Flanked by large green spaces and containing significant structures such as Parliament, the Secretariat buildings and the National Archives, it is recognised around the world as a striking example of innovative urban planning and architecture.
Not surprisingly, the Central government’s plan to redevelop the Central Vista, announced in September 2019, has attracted a flurry of debate. Some people have criticised it as an exercise in vanity, while others have questioned the opaque process that resulted in the project being awarded to a Gujarat-based architecture firm. The destruction of national heritage has also been a recurring theme.
From an economic perspective, the estimated cost of Rs. 20,000 crores is equivalent to 1% of the Centre’s purported Covid-19 relief package (and 0.1% of India’s GDP). Such economic wastefulness at the taxpayer’s expense in building a new Parliament, a bunch of government offices, residences for the prime minister and the vice president could not come at a worse time, making a most persuasive case for the project to be junked.
The redevelopment entails altering some structures and demolishing certain buildings within the Parliament complex, modifying the National Archives and constructing several new buildings along the...
