Central Vista redevelopment: Govt to develop defence enclave

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has told the media on Thursday that the government is going to set up a large defence enclave to house top defence brass and personnel in its ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project. Sources told the media the house of the Vice President and its nearby buildings will be demolished to make way for constructing the defence enclave. The new residence of the vice president will be set up near the North Block. The Army Chief, the defence minister, his deputy, defence secretary, Navy Chief and a number of other three-star officers have their offices at the South Block at present. The officers of the Air force, Navy and Army are also spread across several parts of central Delhi, which incorporates the Lutyens' Zone. Many of them operate from hutments near the South and North Blocks. As indicated by the six-year timeline of the redevelopment project, the vice president's enclave is going to be completed by September 2022, the prime minister's residence by December 2022, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) by April 2023, the new parliament building by November 2022, National Archives of India by June 2024, MP chambers by March 2024 and Central Conference Centre by December 2026. The North and South Blocks are presumably to reflect the history of India till 1857 and post the first War of Independence because the centre has planned to convert the two heritage buildings into museums as a part of the Central Vista project, which has symbolised the government's authority since their inception in Lutyens Delhi. The Central Vista or the Rajpath redevelopment project envisages a new parliament building, a common central secretariat, revamping of the 3 km Rajpath from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, new Prime Minister's residence and prime minister's office and a new vice president enclave. Image SourceAlso read: Central Vista project: Iconic buildings of Delhi to be demolished Also read: Central Vista project to continue amid second wave of Covid-19