Govt planning integrated transportation project for Central Vista area

Central Vista refers to the main government administrative buildings of the country. It houses the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament House, North and South Block, and India Gate, among other buildings

The government is working on a detailed transportation plan to connect different buildings of Central Vista in New Delhi, The Economic Times (ET) has reported, citing a senior government official in the know. To this end, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry will soon hire a consultant to figure out the best mode of transportation for the area. The official told the newspaper that a technical evaluation was being undertaken and a consultant would soon be hired to support the plan.

What is the Central Vista?

Central Vista refers to the country's main government administrative buildings. Stretched over 3.2 kilometres in New Delhi, they include the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament House, North and South Block, India Gate, and National Archives. The Union government is rethinking its earlier plan to connect all these buildings by an underground metro about three kilometres in length. This aims to facilitate efficient connectivity between different government buildings of the Central Vista, an official aware of the development told The Economic Times.

 

An integrated mobility development plan

In August, the government invited bids to provide consulting services to make an integrated mobility development plan for Central Vista. Under the Central Vista project, the redevelopment of Kartavya Path, earlier known as Rajpath, was undertaken. Alongside this, the new parliament building was constructed. Besides, the construction work for the Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings and the Vice-president's enclave is ongoing, the ET report said.

The ET report added that the integrated transportation plan project aims to connect government officials working in the buildings and decongest the area around Central Vista.

Total cost of Central Vista project

Estimates place the total cost of the Central Vista Project, including the development and redevelopment components, at about Rs 20,000 crore. The project's mandates include constructing a new parliament building, prime minister's residence, and central secretariat.