Republic Day Parade Of 2022 Will Likely Be Held At New 'revamped' Rajpath

The Republic Day parade of 2022 will likely be held at new “revamped” Rajpath, as the Centre is planning to finish the revamp by 2021.

According to the Hindustan Times, the historic Rajpath will go for redevelopment work soon after hosting the Republic Day parade in 2021 under the ambitious plan of the central government. The redevelopment work is likely to begin in February 2021 and will be completed by November, adding that the Republic Day parade would take place at the "modernised" Rajpath in 2022.

The new revamped Rajpath will likely have vending zones and other facilities to cater to visitors at the newly-developed Rajpath under the redevelopment plan. The Modi government had unveiled its mega plan last week to redevelop the over 3-km stretch from Rashtrapati Bhavan to the India Gate at Lutyens' Delhi. The Centre had on September 2 floated a request for proposal for the "development or redevelopment of Parliament Building, Common Central Secretariat and Central Vista." Architectural firm would be finalised before Diwali to execute the ambitious project.

A senior official at the ministry of housing and urban affairs told the Hindustan Times, “We will not touch the outer facades of North Block, South Block and the Rashtrapati Bhawans but all these buildings are not earthquake proof and we will be redeveloping them. Places like Brazil and Kuala Lumpur have made new Parliaments, we can get them to advise us.” Roughly a 3-4 sqkm area, will be completely revamped along the central vista or Rajpath, as per the request for proposal (RFP) document floated by the Centre on September 2. The Centre may also change the 2021 Delhi Master Plan, the official said.

Earlier this week, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said a new Parliament building, having offices of ministers and MPs and that may be constructed next to the over 90-year-old structure, is one of the options being considered by the government. The minister had said the final decision would be taken only after designs are submitted by architecture firms.