The Centre’s application seeking environmental clearance for the construction of a new Parliament complex has been deferred by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), and the proposal is likely to be reconsidered after pending court cases related to the project are resolved, according to documents seen by HT and officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
An expert appraisal committee (EAC) on infrastructure under the MoEFCC held a meeting on February 25 to review a proposal by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs’ construction arm, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), seeking green clearance for the new Parliament building.
According to the minutes of the meeting, a copy of which HT has reviewed, EAC noted that the project would provide a “larger Parliament building for the nation for better functioning of the legislature” but also added that CPWD needed to meet a slew of conditions before the proposal can be reconsidered.
EAC sought revised details of the total built-up area proposed or the expansion, scope of renovation of the existing Parliament building, status of court cases, a traffic management plan, point-wise reply to the representations received and updated Master Plan of Delhi showing land-use of “plot no.118”.
“In view of the foregoing observations, the EAC recommended to defer the proposal. The proposal shall be reconsidered only after the above details are addressed and submitted,” the panel said.
Officials of the two ministries who did not want to be named said the proposal was deferred because the matter was sub judice. Cases concerning land use changes and other related issues pertaining to the Central Vista project will be taken up by the Supreme Court later this month.
In the meeting, officials from the ministry of housing and urban affairs said that an application has been made to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to change the land use of the 9.5-acre plot (for the Parliament complex) to “government use” as its current status in Master Plan for Delhi 2021 is “District Park”.
“The proposal is to provide 5.64 acres in the Central Vista area of D zone and 3.9 acres in the C zone in lieu of the land use conversion from a district park (for recreational purposes) to Parliament (government land),” housing and urban affairs officials said in the meeting, according to the documents.
Concerns on the environmental clearance for the project have also been raised by LokPATH, a collective of about 300 architects, environmentalists and urban designers, in a letter to Union environment, forest and climate change minister Prakash Javadekar, HT reported on February 25. The group sought a cumulative impact assessment and a public hearing for the Central Vista redevelopment plan.
CPWD has sought clearance for one component of the Central Vista project — the expansion and renovation of the existing Parliament building — from EAC on infrastructure.
The green clearance is necessary for a few categories of construction and area development projects under environmental impact assessment (EIA) norms.
EAC, at the February 25 meeting, noted that a large number of representations have been received in the ministry and also by the panel’s chairman/member(s). “The concerns raised in representation(s) are mainly on the following points: The Parliament building is structurally a part of the composite notified heritage precinct, the Central Vista. The application disregards the historical, cultural and social importance of the existing Parliament by treating its expansion and renovation as any other regular construction project,” the panel noted.
EAC further noted concerns have also been raised because the CPWD application treats the expansion of Parliament as a stand-alone project when it is only one part of the proposed redevelopment of the Central Vista heritage precinct that violates the MoEFCC rules for “consideration of integrated and inter related projects for grant of environmental clearance”.
“The application for environment clearance must be set aside due to pending litigation on the land use change for the project. The land use change notification for Central Vista, which includes plot 118, is under litigation before the Delhi high court (HC),” the panel said.
In its response, officials from the ministry of housing and urban affairs said in the meeting the need for a new Parliament building has risen due to signs of distress and over utilisation of the Parliament complex such as increase in parliamentary activities and the number of people working there along with a spike in visitors.
“The scope for reorganising the existing Parliament House was thoroughly examined. The Parliament building lacks adequate space to meet the current needs. Additional office space in the newly constructed annexe and library building is insufficient. The number of Lok Sabha seats is also likely to go up with the delimitation of constituencies and the present building (Lok Sabha and Central Hall) may not be adequate to house all the members. The Parliament building has been modified and at times insensitively,” these officials said.
“It is a 90-year-old structure with no available documents about the structure’s design life. The current audio-video-voting systems are also outdated and furniture is uncomfortable. The existing Parliament building is in dire need of conservation,” they added.
On January 19, HT reported that a new Lok Sabha Central Hall is big enough to house 900 members of Parliament (MPs) and flexible to accommodate 1,350 MPs for a joint Parliament session. This will be the centre-piece of the 2024 Central Vista redevelopment plan. The new Parliament complex, whose earlier deadline was 2022, will be among the first plans to be finalised and tenders are likely be issued by June this year.
According to CPWD’s proposal, the new Parliament complex is estimated to cost ₹776 crore.
The Supreme Court on Friday transferred all writ petitions filed before the Delhi HC challenging the Central Vista redevelopment project to itself just days after the court allowed DDA to notify the proposed land-use changes. “In our opinion, it is just and proper that writ petition itself is heard by this court instead of examining the grievance about the manner in which the interim directions have been passed and then vacated by the HC. Indeed, this order is not a reflection on the proceedings before the HC, in any manner, but in larger public interest, we deem it appropriate that the entire matter pertaining to challenge pending before the HC is heard and decided by this court expeditiously,” the SC said.
The matter will be heard by the top court on March 18.
“In any infrastructure project with pending cases, no such hearing on environmental clearance usually takes place till the matter is sub judice,” said KT Ravindran, urban designer and former chairman of Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC).