Central Vista Avenue revamp work may end by May: Centre

While the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) is completing pending work at the site, it is also repairing damage caused to the newly developed Avenue during the Republic Day parade preparations, said senior officials aware of the matter.

The redevelopment of Central Vista Avenue, which initially was due to be complete by Republic Day this year, is now likely to be completed by May, Union minister of state (MoS) housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishore told Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Construction work on the Avenue resumed in February after Republic Day celebrations ended. (HT file photo)

While the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) is completing pending work at the site, it is also repairing damage caused to the newly developed Avenue during the Republic Day parade preparations, said senior officials aware of the matter.

Construction work on the Avenue resumed in February after Republic Day celebrations ended.

CPWD, the nodal agency for implementing the project, said work is in advanced stages.

For the parade, temporary structures were erected in the lawns and heavy machines were used to complete the work, which left water sprinkling infrastructure partially damaged, said a senior CPWD official aware of the development.

“The water-sprinkling system installed at the avenue is connected to the weather monitoring system. It will automatically assess if the lawns need to be watered. The pipelines in the lawns got damaged at some spots. We are repairing them and work is in advanced stages. Some portions of the lawn were dug up for this. We have now taken precautions to ensure the system isn’t damaged next time. It is taking some time to finish the work,” said the CPWD official who asked not to be named.

The Union ministry of housing and urban affairs didn’t comment on the matter.

The redevelopment of the Central Vista Avenue, part of the Centre’s ₹13,500 crore Central Vista redevelopment project, started in February last year. Under the project, Rajpath and the area along it, between Vijay Chowk and India Gate, is being redeveloped.

The ₹608-crore project was initially scheduled to be completed by December last year.

In a written response to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Ram Shakal, Kishore said, “The expenditure incurred till date is ₹418.70 crore, which is being met from Major Head 4059 of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The first phase of the project is targeted to be completed by May 2022.”

According to another CPWD official, “Construction of the four pedestrian underpasses and eight amenity blocks is in advanced stages.”

The official added that work on the amenity blocks is in the closing stages.

A spokesperson of HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd (the project consultant), said, “Some work was pending on the Central Vista Avenue when the Republic Day Parade took place. This was resumed after Parade arrangements were dismantled, and work is currently underway.

The revamp work also involves construction pathways, improving the canals, constructing 16 permanent bridges over canals, construction of underground utility ducts for electric and other cables etc.

Lawns on both sides and canals were completed for the R-Day parade, which was held on the revamped Central Vista Avenue for the first time this year.

“The utility duct along Rajpath, to take all overhead cables underground, was completed before the parade. The canals were redeveloped and bridges over it were used during the parade to provide better connectivity between the lawns on either side of the canals and to aid VIP and VVIP movement during the parade,” said a CPWD official.