A Cultural Vista

Central Vista plan is now a given. But there’s still scope of reinvention

- Gautam Bhatia

True the Delhi high court has dismissed a public petition to halt work on the Central Vista redevelopment plan. But there’s still scope for reimagining it. One important thing is missing from current plans – the Central Vista, as conceived, will lose its value as a cultural hub. It will simply be ministry offices and government departments.

Is this any way to treat the country’s most valued public space?

The assertion of bureaucracy along the Central Vista can hardly be considered proof of Indian democracy. However adept the new architecture, more than ever now, we need a parallel public response that gives visible expression to cultural institutions.

The current stalemate between the government’s plan for the vista and the citizen’s right to a cohesive public cultural space can best be resolved by two critical intrusions.

First, there’s a need for a clear-eyed assessment of the history of the Central Vista, and an examination of the 90-year-old plan itself. Meant to be colonialism’s grand showpiece for the next 100 years, the empire folded within a decade, thus transforming the place quickly and conveniently into a parade ground for the new Indian republic.