‘2022 R-Day parade will be held at the new Central Vista’
NEW DELHI: The Republic Day parade on January 26, 2022 will take place on the revamped Central Vista avenue and the process of handing the site over to the local authorities is ongoing, the mega project’s architect Bimal Patel said on Tuesday.
Speaking on the opening day of the 19th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Patel also held forth on his design mantra for approaching iconic architecture projects, including the Central Vista project and the restoration of the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, among others.
“The Republic Day parade will take place there (Central Vista) and the handover is being done in bits and pieces. It is not an issue,” said Patel, architect and president of CEPT University in Ahmedabad.
He said that the ₹20,000 crore project, which aims to revamp and modernise iconic central Delhi structures, is on track. He also confirmed that the new Parliament building will be ready before the winter session in 2022, which marks 75 years of Independence.
Explaining the philosophy behind his style, the architect helming several high-profile projects said that he liked to approach any historically important site with respect and awareness about current-day problems and how to solve them. “There has to be a respectful approach. However, the fact that it is a historically important site should not paralyse us. We must do what is necessary to transform these places so that they function for us as well today,” he said in a session moderated by R Sukumar, editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times.
“If one takes a simple approach like that, I think one comes up with solutions that make sense today but with a lot of respect for the history and ethos of the place,” he added.
Patel gave the example of the Central Vista project, the centrepiece of which is a new Parliament building fitted with modern amenities for a higher number of lawmakers than what the current facility is capable of housing. He mentioned that people using the current iconic circular Parliament building, which was built in the British era in 1925, had long complained about several difficulties, going back to 2012.
“The place is stressed. It was never meant to be Parliament. It was meant to be a council house. In a hall that was meant to seat 150 people, we put in 543 people. Installation of modern infrastructure has damaged the building in many parts. These are functional issues that need to be addressed,” he said.
He listed similar issues with the public space in central Delhi, especially between Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate, that had simple problems like no toilets, scant lighting and leaking water structures.
“There is a whole laundry list of problems that all the different projects are solving. In doing it, two things are absolutely in line. On one side, we want to respect the heritage and basic structure of the space, which is being kept as it is. Second, we want to respect the fact that it is prime public space. If anything, we want to increase public space and its usability, we don’t want to diminish that.”
He addressed criticism of the Central Vista project, which has been challenged in the Supreme Court and attacked by Opposition
If the buildings (Edwin) Lutyens and (Herbert) Baker built to signify the power of the British Raj over the Indian population are becoming museums we can walk in to... then it is a fantastic move. BIMAL PATEL, Central Vista architect
parties that allege that the revamp is unnecessary and wasteful.
Patel said he understood the apprehension of the people who had memories and emotions associated with iconic structures like the Central Vista or the Sabarmati Ashram, which was founded by Mahatma Gandhi. “One must also, besides being emotive, look at the facts and what is being proposed. Once you take account of how things are being done…the approach is respectful of history and mindful of what is needed for the present.”
He said he could understand why people were worried about artefacts being moved from the National Museum, which is scheduled to be razed as part of the project, but added that the larger aim of the move was progressive. “If the buildings that (Edwin) Lutyens and (Herbert) Baker built to signify the power of the British Raj over the Indian population are becoming museums we can walk into with our children and grandchildren, then it is a fantastic move. It’s about time our republic abandoned those symbols of the Raj and turned them over to the people.” He said the move signified the deepening of the spirit of the republic and recasting the iconography of the place without changing anything.
Patel also scotched criticism of the alleged relocation of the jamun trees and said that were roughly 1,200 jamun on both sides of the Rajpath. “Out of this, approximately 20 or 21 are being removed or transplanted to build toilets. There was no better way of doing it. This was thoughtfully done. I think it’s a reasonable sacrifice.”
Speaking about the Sabarmati Ashram project, Patel said he admired the austere and simple qualities of the original Gandhi Ashram, which he said he grew up with while as a child in Ahmedabad.
But he said that the original Gandhi Ashram occupied 40 acres with 60-odd buildings, while the current plot is only five acres, out of which only three acres have buildings that have been preserved. “The idea of the project is to expand the Gandhi Ashram to cover all the original buildings, most of which exist but are in a derelict state. These have to be restored and brought back to their original state. This is a restoration project.”
With a career working on high-profile public projects that have deep emotional resonance with the Indian public, what does Patel think of his legacy? The architect said he couldn’t say what the future would hold, but hoped that honesty, simplicity, sincerity of the work will be respected as time went by. “We are not trying to rewrite history. We are doing what needs to be done.”