As the Central Vista project recklessly continues amidst a brutal second wave of COVID-19, many of Delhi’s iconic buildings will be razed to the ground. Experts are worried, here’s why:
The National Museum, The National Archives’ Annexe and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, among many others, are set to be demolished as a part of the Central Government’s Central Vista project. Artists, historians and public scholars are questioning the move, fearful of the potential danger to thousands of invaluable original artefacts, sculptures and documents that are at risk.
The National Museum holds innumerable original sculptures, rare idols and coins, paintings, utensils and jewelry, documenting India’s political and cultural history across the ages. The archives kept in the Annexe of the National Archives building include 25,000 rare manuscripts, and more than a lakh maps and documents of National importance. An already questionable move, the Central Vista developments seem scarier as most of these documents are brittle and delicate, and even slight carelessness can cause irreversible damage.
The giant library at Indira Gandhi Centre for Arts and the decades-old sculptures will all be shifted to the Janpath Hotel while the demolition and reconstruction takes place.
A group of over 80 public intellectuals, including Romila Thapar and Gayatri Spivak, recently addressed an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appealing for a reconsideration of the project. “It is specially troubling that this extravagant project is moving ahead in the midst of a devastating pandemic. In the short term, all priorities should be directed at combating the pandemic. In the long term, there should be public consultations so that the future of India’s institutions, heritage architecture and historical collections can be determined through a democratic process.”
What is especially troubling is the reckless pursual of the project without consideration of the many concerns raised by scholars and experts. The methods of development and renewal are opaque, and as of recently, boards have come up on the site prohibiting photography and videography at the construction site. Promises made in the Lok Sabha about the protection of Heritage buildings earlier in February have turned redundant.
The Centre has appealed for a dismissal of all petitions against the Central Vista, calling them an abuse of the process of law. Following a three-hour long hearing in Delhi on Monday, the judges have reserved the verdict on the matter.
