What is the Central Vista project?
The Central Vista project aims to redevelop a 3.5 km stretch called Central Vista, involving tearing down and rebuilding several government buildings, including a new parliament building near the present one, and a new office and residence for the PM and the Vice President.
Circa September 2020
Last year, in September 2020, as India was dealing with the pandemic and things seemed just to settle down, the Centre announced that the contract for the Central Vista had been awarded for Rs 20,000 crore and the construction will begin in January 2021. To put that in perspective, it costs close to INR 1000 to 1200 crore to build an AIIMS.
Many questions were raised- both at the need and timing of the project. Today, the country struggles with the deadly second wave of COVID with shortages of all sorts- oxygen, hospital beds and staff, funds for medical treatment but the construction work goes on. To add insult to the injury, the construction of Central Vista has been tagged as an “essential service.”
The question now is about the Centre’s priorities. What should be the main focus on, the pandemic that is killing thousands every day or a new lavish parliament building with more seating? Even if the funds were pre-allocated, the entire project appears to be tone-deaf.
Expectation vs reality
While we expect the Central Vista Project to be completed in 4 years and the PM’s residence in 2 years, AIIMS Madurai is still a work in progress- six years after the project began. A question we should ask is- how many hospitals were built or are in progress since the pandemic broke 14 months ago!
Delhi bears the brunt!
Delhi went under a complete lockdown on April 19. The Central Public Works Department, which is overseeing the project, asked the Delhi police to allow the contractors for the labor movement during the curfew period using their own buses. At the very least, 180 passes were issued by the Delhi police for workers engaged in the project in the “essential services” category.
A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed by Anaya Malhotra and Sohail Hashmi, which the Delhi High Court will hear on May 17. The petition asks for the halt of the project during the pandemic’s peak as it poses a threat to the citizens of Delhi and beyond, including the lives of the workforce at the construction site.
Even if we ignore the possibility of construction becoming a super spreader, we believe that the resources(that are transferable) should be used for improving the medical infrastructure as we brace ourselves for the third wave. For a nation as big as ours- resources are limited- not just in a pandemic but always. Judicial use of these resources at a time like this is the need of the hour.
What are your thoughts? Do you think the resources invested in Central Vista were transferable and could have been used elsewhere or was it a sunk cost? Let us know!
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