Amid concerns and criticisms, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that Government infrastructure, including the North and South Blocks, was built more than a century ago and there is no reason why the Centre should not go for a new-look Central Vista aesthetically while preserving the heritage.
Speaking at a function, Puri said that some people are talking about the Central Vista makeover without knowing what is happening. “Look every 100 years somebody has to take charge and decide what the city is going to look like. Delhi in its present from...The current Delhi Governmental infrastructure (including) Rashtrapati Bhavan, North Block, South Block, were built in 1910s or 1920s,” Puri added.
The questions are being raised by experts from various quarters that what is the need to do so and what’s the objective and why it is being implemented. “We are paying thousands of crores of rent to house Government buildings. We have the land, so there is no reason why we can’t do it in an architecturally, aesthetic way, preserve the heritage etc and create a New Delhi,” he said.
Sources said that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has received nearly 400 objections to the proposed change of land use for 101 acres in central Delhi for the Centre’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project. The objections range from questioning the need for the project to its impact on environment and traffic. Some also stressed on the need to protect heritage and demanded a proper assessment before going ahead with the plan.
LokPATH (people for Appropriate Transformation of Habitat), a collective of urban development experts, which was formed recently, has flagged the lack of transparency in the process of land use change. The Indian Society of Landscape Architects (ISOLA) has called the project an “inappropriate planning decision”. Many have questioned the need for the project and said it contradicts the provisions of the Master Plan of Delhi 2021.
The redevelopment of the Central Vista — the nation’s power corridor in Delhi —envisages a triangular Parliament building next to the existing one, a common Central Secretariat for ministries and the revamping of the three-km-long Rajpath - from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.