Central Vista project

  • A 3.2-km stretch in Delhi, the Central Vista of New Delhi houses comprises Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament House, North and South Block, India Gate, National Archives among others. 

HISTORY 

  • All these iconic buildings were constructed before 1931, the year in which the new capital was inaugurated.
  • In December, 1911, King George V made an announcement in Delhi Durbar (a grand assembly) to shift the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi. 
  • Delhi Durbar was hosted to mark the coronation of King George V.
  • Parliament House building was designed by both Lutyens and Baker. 
  • Rashtrapati Bhavan was designed by Edwin Lutyens. 
  • The Secretariat which includes both north and south block was designed by Herbert Baker.
  • Temple which inspired design of Indian Parliament: Madhya Pradesh’s ChausathYogini Mandir. 

THE PROJECT 

  • The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs proposed a Central Vista redevelopment project in 2019.
  • The project envisages Constructing a triangular Parliament building next to the existing one, Constructing Common Central Secretariat and revamping of the 3-km-long Rajpath — from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate. 
  • North and South Blocks are to be repurposed as museums.
  • The timeline given to complete the Central Vista project was November, 2021, the work on Parliament building is to be completed by March, 2022 and the common Central Secretariat by March 2024.

OPPOSITION 

  • Many filed petitions against the project. 
  • The Supreme Court refused to put a stay on the Central vista redevelopment project. 
  • It will hear all the petitions against the project but refused to give a stay.  

THE NEED FOR CENTRAL VISTA 

  • As per government’s estimates, it is paying Rs 1,000 crore as rent annually for its offices spread across Delhi. 
  • This was the main logic for a common central secretariat. 
  • The complex is being planned with separate sevenfloor buildings. 
  • All buildings would have access to the underground metro with pedestrian subways.

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