The many visions for India’s seat of power

Shortlisted firms had suggested a tower like the Washington Monument, underground metros, semi-public streets

NEW DELHI: The four firms shortlisted for the Central Vista revamp came up with a series of unconventional ideas that included, among others, extending the Central Vista up to the banks of Yamuna, converting North and South Blocks into archival spaces, and transforming the Parliament building into a museum.

A total of six companies submitted bids for the project after the government met on September 12. Of these, four were shortlisted — HCP Design, Planning & Management; INI Design Studio, Ahmedabad; and New Delhibased CP Kukreja Architects and Sikka Associates Architects.

Hindustan Times has reviewed the proposal for the project master plan of all the firms. The Centre last week, announced that the final contract for the redesign of New Delhi’s Central Vista, or Rajpath, was awarded to Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning & Management Private Limited, whose proposal includes moving the PM’s residence to Rajpath and converting the existing Parliament into a democracy museum.

To be sure, this is just the initial plan and the proposal could undergo several changes.

Among the proposals that did not make the cut, the one by CP Kukreja Architects suggested that the Central Vista would run from the river Yamuna in the east to the Delhi Ridge in the west. It also proposed the creation of a pair of “semi-public” streets that would run between the buildings, with a new underground Metro route below terraced landscape of the Central Secretariat.

“Doing so will extend the Rajpath’s grandeur while laying the framework for an adaptable smart city for future generations. By creating two semi-public streets that run between the buildings and sync with the lateral roads we are able to free the Rajpath of traffic,” the firm said in its proposal document. It also proposed a tall monument overlooking Rajpath — a bit like the Washington Monument on Capitol Hill in Washington DC — as well as creation of a new cluster of museums that would surround the India Gate lawns and common secretariat buildings.

INI Design, another shortlisted firm, proposed a new Parliament house in the centre of the Vista — the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in separate buildings — with the Rashtrapati Bhavan on one side of Rajpath and a pedestrian-only path leading to India Gate. “This would connect the three facets of the Constitution — the head of the state, elected mandate and the defence forces in a straight axis,” the Gujarat-based firm proposed.

Like the winning proposal, the firm also proposed to “restore” the present Parliament building along with the North and South Blocks as the “Museum of Indian Democracy”, library and archival spaces. It also suggested the creation of a new space — Ganntantra Chowk — adjacent to Vijay Chowk, between the new Parliament house and the Rashtrapati Bhavan to be used for ceremonies such as the Beating Retreat.

New Delhi-based Sikka Associates Architects, meanwhile, proposed to relocate the Prime Minister’s Office close to South Block. The proposal to relocate the PMO also found its way in the winning proposal. HCP has proposed a new building for the PMO and a new residence for the PM closer to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. According to this proposal, the redesigned Central Vista may also include a new office complex for MPs, a new Central Secretariat, new complex for secretariat annex and support facilities and archival spaces.

“We will be holding multiple consultations and include inputs from all the other firms as well and then finalise the master plan for the project,” Union urban affairs minister Hardeep Puri told HT. Some experts, however, said the government appeared to be in a rush.

“The Lutyens’ protection zone guidelines didn’t allow even bungalows to expand and people were made to pay high prices now they are taking a complete U-turn. Doing away with buildings like the Shastri Bhawan and Udyog Bhawan is a good idea as they are not in a good state but if you talk about the Parliament and other buildings, these are important in Indian history and are a stamp of Delhi. The government is in a lot of hurry and not weighing in all the aspects”, said the former president of the Indian Institute of Architecture, Vijay Garg.

› We will be holding multiple consultations and include inputs from all the other firms as well and then finalise the master plan for the project HARDEEP PURI , Union urban affairs minister