New Delhi, Feb 6 At least 1,200 people on Thursday were called to attend a public hearing on objections raised by 2,000 people on the Central Vista redevelopment project of Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
A notification in newspapers was published on Wednesday about a public hearing on the proposed changes in land usage.
Six slots were fixed for the people who raised objection to the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They were called at Vikas Sadan by the DDA.
The notification asked those who submitted their opinions to the land-use change notification put out in December 2019, to "present oral evidence in person" on February 6 and 7.
India Architect and Planner Neeraj Manchanda told 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 of space available to the general public in the Central Vista area, besides a reduction in free access to this area for the general public.
"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 requirement 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.
( With inputs from IANS )