PM Modi lays foundation of new Parliament building, read about its features here
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the new Parliament building, which is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of ₹971 crore. However, no construction can immediately begin as various pleas against the project are pending before the Supreme Court.
The event began at 12:55pm and the foundation stone was laid at 1pm, officials said, adding that a ‘sarva dharma prarthana’ (inter-faith prayer) was held at 1.30pm.
Features of the new Parliament
HCP Design, Planning and Management Private Limited has won the contract of building new Central vista and Parliament building that will have four floors with separate access for President, Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, Rajya Sabha chairperson, Members of Parliament and public.
According to a release by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the new building is an intrinsic part of the vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and will be a landmark opportunity to build peoples’ Parliament for the first time after independence, one which will match the needs and aspirations of ‘New India’ in the 75th anniversary of independence in 2022.
“The new Parliament building will be modern, state-of-the-art and energy-efficient, with highly non-obtrusive security facilities to be built as a triangular-shaped building, adjacent to the present Parliament. Lok Sabha will be three times of the existing size and Rajya Sabha will be substantially bigger,” the release said.
The interiors of the new building will showcase a rich blend of Indian culture and diversity of our regional arts, crafts, textiles and architecture, it said.
As per the PMO, the design plan includes space for a Central Constitutional Gallery, which will be accessible to the public. It said construction process will use resource-efficient green technology, promote environment- friendly practices, generate employment opportunities and contribute towards economic revitalization. The building will have high-quality acoustics and audio-visual facilities, improved and comfortable seating arrangements, effective and inclusive emergency evacuation provisions.
It will comply with the highest structural safety standards, including adherence to Seismic Zone 5 requirements and is designed for ease of maintenance and operations, PMO said.
The new Parliament building will have a seating capacity for 888 members in the Lok Sabha and 384 members in Rajya Sabha as against the present 543 members and 245 members, respectively. The capacity of the Lok Sabha chamber is expected to be 1,224 seats for joint sittings.
Around 200 dignitaries, including Union Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, Secretaries Ambassadors/High Commissioners will attend the function, which will also be webcast live.
Earlier on December 7, expressing displeasure over the way the Centre is ‘aggressively’ going ahead with the construction work of the Central Vista, the Supreme Court had allowed the foundation stone laying ceremony for the new Parliament building on December 10 but directed that no construction should take place.
The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, which were challenging the project related to the redevelopment of the Central Vista in the national capital and were even levelling certain allegations of violations in the project.
