The Centre has told the Delhi high court that a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a stay on construction at Central Vista amid the Covid-19 pandemic is just another attempt at stalling the project that has been facing such attempts from the beginning on different grounds.
The “intentions and motive” behind filing of the plea are evident from the fact that the Central Vista project has been singled out by the petitioners despite several other agencies, including the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, carrying out construction activities across the national capital, the Centre said in an affidavit filed before the court on Tuesday.
The project, being handled by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs, involves building a new Parliament building by India’s 75th Independence Day in 2022, while the overall project, which includes constructing 11 administrative buildings to house all the government ministries, is slated to be finished by 2024.
The Centre accused the petitioners, Anya Malhotra, who works as a translator, and Sohail Hashmi, a historian and documentary filmmaker, of deliberately suppressing facts in filing the plea to stop the construction work.
The Union government said that construction is limited to redevelopment of the Central Vista Avenue which includes both sides of Rajpath where Republic Day celebration are held.
“This is a very important public space and most widely visited by the common public and tourists in Delhi. It may be noted that the scope of work is as follows–Providing public amenities like toilet blocks, paths, parking space, vendor zone, making four pedestrian underpasses below Janpath and C-Hexagon Road, improvement of canals, bridges, lawns, lights etc,” the government said.
Since the affidavit was not yet on record, a bench of chief justice DN Patel and justice Jasmeet Singh listed the matter for hearing on Wednesday.
The petitioners moved the Supreme Court against a May 4 high court order that adjourned their plea to May 17, saying it first wants to study the apex court’s January 5 judgment giving a go-ahead to the Central Vista project.
In the appeal before the Supreme Court, the petitioners contended the project was not an essential activity, and can be put on hold during the pandemic.
The apex court declined to interfere in the matter as the issue was pending before the high court. It, however, asked the petitioners to seek an early hearing before the high court. Subsequently, they moved an application to advance the matter.
The ₹13,450 crore Central Vista project has faced criticism from various quarters and political parties, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi last week calling it a “criminal wastage” as he asked the government to focus on saving people’s lives during the pandemic.
Last Friday, Union minister for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri attacked the Congress, terming the opposition’s objections “bizzare.”
“Congress’s discourse on Central Vista is bizarre. Cost of Central Vista is about ₹20,000 crore, over several years. GoI has allocated nearly twice that amount for vaccination! India’s healthcare budget for just this year was over ₹3 lakh crore. We know our priorities. There are hundreds of projects being executed by various depts. Governance hasn’t come to a standstill, unlike the Congress’s times of policy paralysis,” Puri tweeted.
“They (Congress) want to distract people from monumental governance failures in their states by spreading lies. So they indulge in cheap politics despite knowing this project creates direct & indirect employment for thousands of skilled, semi-skilled & unskilled workers in these times. Congress doesn’t stop at hypocrisy,” he added.
In its affidavit, the central government has said that the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has permitted redevelopment of the Central Vista avenue — the stretch of Rajpath from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhawan — during the prevailing curfew, with the labourers residing on-site.
The petitioners have also filed an application seeking the appointment of a commissioner to verify the Centre’s claims in an affidavit that workers engaged in the construction of the project are staying on-site and have been provided with all necessary health care equipment.
The Centre, in its affidavit, said a Covid-19 compliant facility was installed at the site to accommodate 250 workers, who had chosen to stay there and continue the work. It also said that there was strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. “It is unequivocally stated that the workers working on the project as of now, are residing at the work-site, following social distancing norms as well as other Covid-19 protocols,” the Centre said.
Citing media reports, the petitioners asked the Centre why permission was sought for the movement of 180 vehicles. “Nowhere in the affidavit is there a disclosure, or response to the averments of the 500 subcontracted workers engaged in the construction of the Central Vista before the curfew who were formerly transported in four buses and were then ferried in a reduced number of such vehicles,” they said in the application.
In its response, the Centre said: “The workers are staying on the site and, therefore, the notification relied upon by the petitioner is fully complied with. The petitioner is fully aware about this fact and he has deliberately suppressed it in the petition”.
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