Adieu to colonial seat of power: What Central Vista will look like

The ambitious revamp of India’s power centre in Delhi began on Thursday evening with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating its first project — the Central Vista Avenue or Kartavya Path, hitherto known as Rajpath. The 3-km stretch, with India Gate at one end and Rashtrapati Bhavan on the other, has been rebuilt as part of the Central Vista project.

Key features of central vista avenue
 

Project cost: Rs 608 crore

Executed by: Central Public Works Department (CPWD)

Contract of redevelopment: Shapoorji Pallonji & Company

• 16.5-km pedestrian walkways added along erstwhile Rajpath, across lawns, along the canals, and at the India Gate precincts
• Allotted space for parking of public and private vehicles
• 19 acres of total canal area refurbished
• 101 acres of total green cover, preservation of original jamun trees in the area
• 140 new trees were planted
• 104 public toilets with 10 accessible ones
• Four pedestrian underpasses at busy junctions, with accessibility ramps
• Modular bleachers and light poles set up for the Republic Day parade, to save time and effort for setting up and dismantling

Architect behind redevelopment:

Padma Shri Bimal Patel is the man behind the redevelopment of Parliament and the Central Vista project. A city planner, Patel is renowned for redesigning urban areas for more efficient ways of living. He is known for projects such as Sabarmati riverfront development, IIM Ahmedabad new campus, Aga Khan Academy, Gujarat High Court, Tata Mundra township, and Kashi Vishwanath Dham among others. He is currently director, HCP Design Planning and Management.

Umbrella Central Vista plan

• Cost of the Central Vista project:  Rs 13,450 cr
• Key features: New Parliament redevelopment of the common central secretariat (CCS) buildings, a Central Conference Centre (CCC), the prime minister’s residence, vice-president’s enclave and a building for the Special Protection Group.
• 11 administrative buildings that will house key ministries are slated to be completed by 2026. Existing ministry would be subsumed into this.
• Received environment clearance in May 2021

Stakeholders

• Nodal ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
• Executing body: CPWD

Private firms

• Tata Projects: New Parliament building
• Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Ltd: Redevelopment
• Kamladityya Construction Pvt Ltd: Vice president enclave
• Ahluwalia Contracts: Executive enclave housing PM’s office, cabinet secretariat, India House and the National Security Council Secretariat