JOIN USPIL against Central Vista construction another attempt to stall project: Centre to Delhi HC
The Union government has contended before the Delhi High Court that the plea filed before it for halting the work on both sides of Rajpath here under the Central Vista Redevelopment Project was a "sheer abuse of the process of law and one more attempt to stall it under the refuge of the present Covid-19 situation".
Executive Engineer Central Vista Project Division-III, CPWD, Rajiv Sharma said the tender for the work, meant for providing public amenities, and pedestrian underpass etc, was awarded to M/s Shapoorji Pallonji and Company, in January 2021. This has to be completed within 10 months by November 2021.
The scope of work for the project in question is not what is colloquially referred to as “the Central Vista Project”, which included Parliament, refurbishment of North Block, South Block, construction of new offices for central government i.e. Common Central Secretariat, Central conference facilities, etc. Contrary to claims, the project was not inaugurated by the Prime Minister, he said.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Jasmeet Singh on Tuesday ordered to bring on record the affidavit filed on behalf of the Centre and posted the PIL by Anya Malhotra and Sohail Hashmi for consideration on Wednesday.
The petitioners led by senior advocate Sidharth Luthra sought a direction to halt the construction due to the Covid-19 situation in the national capital and the threat posed by the construction work as a potential super spreader.
The government's response, however, claimed the workers, engaged in the redevelopment of Central Vista Avenue, were residing at the site, following social distancing norms as well as other Covid-19 protocols.
A Covid-19-compliant facility was installed at the worksite itself to accommodate the 250 workers who had expressed their willingness to stay put and continue the work. The facility provided for strict implementation of Covid protocol and behaviour such as sanitisation, thermal screening, physical and social distancing and masking.
Moreover, the contractor has provided for a health insurance of all the concerned workers against Covid-19 and a separate facility for conducting the RT-PCR test, isolation and medical aid has also been provided at site, the response stated.
The official also claimed that it was false to suggest that any workers were brought from Sarai Kale Khan camp to the working site on a daily basis.
The official asked the court to dismiss the petition with exemplary cost saying attempts were going on since the inception of the project under one pretext or another and in one name or another to stall it.
The petition deserves to be dismissed as motivated by some undisclosed interest under the garb of “public interest” as it chose to challenge one construction project while several agencies like CPWD, NBCC, DMRC, PWD, IICC and DDA are also engaged in and carrying out construction activities in various places across Delhi, it said.