NEW DELHI, Sept 18: The round-shaped Parliament building from where the sittings will be shifted to the new Parliament building on Tuesday, will not be demolished but “retrofitted” to provide more functional spaces for parliamentary events.
“The historic structure will be conserved, as it is an archaeological asset of the country,” official sources said on Monday.
The building was completed in 1927, and is now 96 years old and had witnessed the adoption of the Constitution of India. Over the years, it was found to be inadequate for present day requirements.
The iconic parliament building was designed by British architects Sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, witnessed not just the struggle for independence, but also the country’s rise after that.
In 2021, the then Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had told the Rajya Sabha the existing structure would have to be repaired and made available for alternative use.
The national archives will be shifted to the new parliament building for heritage-sensitive restoration, they said. This will further help the old Parliament building with more space. Some reports also suggest that a part of the old building could be converted into a museum.
The new building inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May, can seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha chamber and 300 in the Rajya Sabha chamber. For a joint sitting of both the houses, 1,280 MPs can be accommodated in the Lok Sabha chamber. The triangular-shaped four-storey building has a built-up area of 64,500 square metres. It has three main gates – Gyan Dwar, Shakti Dwar and Karma Dwar – and separate entrances for VIPs, MPs and visitors.
(Manas Dasgupta)