Central Vista Environmental Clearance Challenged

The Supreme Court allowed persons and environmental groups to separately challenge environmental clearance granted to the Central Vista project, which involves the construction of a new Parliament House and Ministry buildings across the historical boulevard from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate in Lutyens’ Delhi. They have been asked to file their writ pleas in a week and the government has to respond the week after. The court decided not to restrain the challenge to the June 17 environmental clearance, but allow citizens to approach the National Green Tribunal too. The SC Bench ordered that “any petition or proceedings” concerning the Central Vista project would be heard only by it. A plea by architect A.G.K. Menon sought the quashing of the no objection certificate granted by the Central Vista Committee to the project. The makeover was announced in September last. It envisages a new triangular Parliament building, with a seating capacity of 900 to 1,200 MPs, to be completed by August, 2022, when the country celebrates its 75th Independence Day. The common Central Secretariat is likely to be built by 2024. But Mr. Suri has argued that the project is cloaked in secrecy. Foremost is the malevolent and malicious manner in which Central Government decided in May 2015 to withdraw India’s nomination to attain a world heritage city tag for Delhi’s Imperial Capital Cities from UNESCO; a quest it had been pursuing over the last decade or so”, his petition said.