3 Iconic Delhi Buildings, Including The National Museum, To Be Razed For Central Vista Project
Three iconic buildings - the National Museum the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts IGNCA the National Archives Annexe - are set to be demolished as part of Narendra Modi governments Rs 20000-crore Central Vista project. Delhi High Court reserved its verdict on a plea seeking to halt the construction of Central Vista redevelopment project against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Delhi's three iconic buildings - the National Museum, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), the National Archives Annexe - are set to be demolished as part of Narendra Modi government's Rs 20,000-crore Central Vista project.
The Central Vista project envisages a new parliament building, new residences for the prime minister and vice president.
The other buildings marked for demolition are: Shastri Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan, Vigyan Bhavan, Vice President's Residence, Jawahar Bhavan, Nirman Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, Raksha Bhavan. The total area to be demolished is 4,58,820 square metres.
Cultural history at stake
The National Archives of India is the custodian of the records such as rare manuscripts, maps and Mughal documents. The transferring of documents is swarmed with risk of loss or mishandling.
It is the biggest archival repository in South Asia.
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The National Museum has thousands of invaluable rare idols, valuable coins, paintings and jewellery crucial to political and cultural history of the nation.
The Dancing Girl of Harappa, Nataraja in Chola Bronze, relics of Buddha and Ganjifa cards are some the valuable relics at the National Museum.
The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts has an extravagant collection of heritage pieces, manuscripts and a grand library.
All of this will be temporarily shifted to the Janpath Hotel, which has been renovated for the purpose.
Centre opposes PIL to stall Central Vista project
The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its verdict on a plea seeking to halt the construction of Central Vista redevelopment project against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Redevelopment of Central Vista Avenue Project work is underway at Rajpath/BCCL
Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the petitioners, submitted they were only interested in the safety of the workers at the site and compared the project to "Auschwitz", a concentration camp of Nazi Germany. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, alleged that the plea was a "facade" to stall the work.
After a three-hour long hearing, a bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh reserved its judgement in the matter.
