Work on C Vista avenue to wrap up by June-end
NEW DELHI: The deadline for the completion of the Central Vista Avenue has been extended by a month from the end of May to the end of June, said two Central Public Works Department (CPWD) officials aware of the development who asked not to be named.
CPWD officials said that while major construction work is over, that on the underpasses and amenity blocks is still going on.
A senior CPWD official said: “The structure of the four pedestrian underpasses and eight amenity blocks along Rajpath is over, but the cladding work is going on. Of the two plazas at the C-hexagon at India Gate, one is ready while the other is nearing completion. We are also constructing eight vending plazas. The work will be completed by June end.”
CPWD, which is executing the project, said that the construction work at the site resumed in February, after Republic Day, for which special arrangements were made.
For the parade, temporary structures were erected in the lawns and heavy machines were used to complete the work, which left the water sprinkling infrastructure partially damaged, said a second senior CPWD official aware of the development.
“The avenue was dug up at some locations to repair the damage caused to the water sprinkling system due to movement of heavy vehicles during the preparation of the parade. In January, some stopgap arrangements for parking etc were made for the parade,” added this person.
The redevelopment of the ₹608-crore Central Vista Avenue, part of the Centre’s ₹13,500 crore Central Vista redevelopment project, started in February last year. Under the project, Rajpath and the area along it between Vijay Chowk to India Gate is being redeveloped.
The project’s initial deadline was December-end.
Work on the project involves the construction of four pedestrian underpasses, eight amenity blocks, relaying of Rajpath and construction of pathways along it and in the lawns, improving the canals and constructing 16 permanent bridges over them, and the construction of underground utility ducts for electric and other cables etc.
CPWD officials said that they faced many challenges in completing the work. “The pace of work was affected due to the second and third waves of Covid. Work had to be stopped due to unprecedented rain last year. For the Republic Day parade, special arrangements were made and then we restarted the work. It took some time to mobilise resources,” said the second CPWD official.
The Union housing and urban affairs minister didn’t comment on the matter.