Next year’s Republic Day on new Rajpath: Puri

NEW DELHI: Next year’s Republic Day will be celebrated on the redeveloped Rajpath under the government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment plan — the work for which is likely to begin from the next month, Union Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri said on Monday.  

The Heritage Conservation Committee gave its approval for construction of a new Parliament building days after the Supreme Court asked the government to seek the same from it. Puri said the projects under the Central Vista redevelopment plan will be completed systematically and the entire project is likely to be completed by 2025. “Republic Day parade in 2022 will be at the new central avenue,” the minister said, adding that cost of the project will be absorbed by each of the ministry’s budget.

Puri said construction of the new Parliament building would not affect the existing structure. Speaking on the clearance by the heritage committee, urban affairs secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said the panel discussed the proposal and gave its approval. The additional secretary of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry is the chairman of the Heritage Conservation Committee.

On January 6, the Supreme Court had cleared the decks for the ambitious Central Vista project, which covers a 3-km stretch from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate in Lutyens’ Delhi, by upholding the environmental clearance and the notification for change in land use. In the majority verdict, the apex court said prior permission shall be taken from the committee and other relevant authorities before start of construction at new sites.