Public hearing on Delhi's Central Vista project ends  

The public hearing on objections raised to the Central Vista project ended on Friday after two days at Vikas Sadan here.

On Thursday, at least 1,200 people were called to attend a public hearing on objections raised by about 2,000 people on the Central Vista redevelopment project of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

On the last day of the hearing, a few people were present at the DDA office to "present oral evidence in person" on the changes of land usage of seven plots in the Central Vista project.

A senior DDA official said that after the hearing which took place before the board of inquiry for two days, all the respondents views will be put before the authority in a meeting chaired by the lieutenant governor of Delhi and then taken to the Centre for notification.

Anil Sood, president of an NGO Chetna, said: "How can you think of changing the land use without having the blueprint in hand and in particular conducting a civic survey as mandated under Section 7 of the DDA Act?"

"Central Vista cannot be developed as a separate island in isolation without considering surrounding zones," he said.

India Architect and Planner Neeraj Manchanda told IANS that the project is of national significance and requires an incisive set of studies across different parameters in order to establish both need and feasibility.

Some of the immediate concerns of the people are the decrease in space available to the general public in the Central Vista area, besides a reduction in free access to this area.

"Currently, no detailed studies have been done on the impact of such a project in terms of critical aspects such as traffic and transportation," he said.

"I hope that these key issues will be looked at enough in order to eventually create a project that increases benefit and space for the general public," he said, adding: "It is the duty of every progressive democracy to ascribe first priority to its general public, rather than to those who govern it."

The Central Vista redevelopment project involves the creation of a new, bigger Parliament building, new residences for the Prime Minister and the Vice-President near the South and North Blocks and the demolition of the existing buildings along the two sides of Rajpath, to make way for a concentration of about 10 government building complexes there.

Architect Vikas Kanojia, Chairman Institute of Urban Designers, India-Delhi Chapter, said the DDA's ambitious project is a "disaster for Delhi" as no public consultation on this project has been carried out within the Parliament or with the general public.

The DDA should have also discussed these changes with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) as they are preparing the Master Plan Delhi (MPD-2041). However, it seems the NIUA has not been consulted, he said.-IANS