The renovation of Delhi’s Coronation Park is all set to miss another anniversary of the British Raj shifting the imperial capital to the city. The work still remains incomplete of Coronation Park which hosts century-old statues of British Emperor King George V and other royalty. Situated on Shanti Swaroop Tyagi Marg, just two kilometres from Kingsway Camp in North Delhi, the Coronation Park is getting readied to become a telling reminder of the city’s history. The site marks the place where the declaration to shift British India’s capital from Calcutta to Delhi was made, and the coronation of King George V as Emperor of India on December 12, 1911, took place. The park complex previously housed a Coronation Pillar or the obelisk and five statues mounted on pedestals, one of them being the tallest built statue of King George V.
Top officials of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) admitted that the deadline is expected to miss again of renovation of Coronation Park. The sprawling compound was in a state of disorder, with building material scattered around. The work on pavements is still going on and cement had been applied only recently on some of them. The unleveled ground was full of puddles, formed after the rains, rendering it unfit to walk. The statue of King George V transplanted here a few decades earlier from Princes’ Park adjacent to India Gate, seemed to be in a state of decay. One statue’s face had crumbled, leaving it without any features. Another looked soiled, the colour white acquiring a sooty hue. The boundary wall too did not encompass the entire perimeter of the park, leaving it open to vandalism and theft. The authority has started renovation of Coronation Park in 2012 in collaboration with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) on a restoration and redevelopment plan for the park. The plan spelt out restorative treatment for the statues and the obelisk, and the building of a restaurant, interpretation centre, amphitheatre, children’s play area and parking lot in the 55-acre compound.