No 'virtual saffron' used to paint city kerbstones: Govt

The controversy over the new “pink and green” coloured pavement kerbstones in New Delhi Municipal Council area reached Parliament on Wednesday with the central government justifying the new colour scheme.

In a written reply tabled in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs H P Chaudhary denied that a colour called “virtual saffron” was used along with green to paint the kerbstones.

“There is no colour as virtual saffron. The dominant colours defining the New Delhi area for the past century are sandstone pink of the buildings and verdant greenery,” he said in reply to a question.  

He said to coincide with the 100 years of the NDMC, it was the endeavour to commemorate the heritage of its area with distinct colour scheme, aesthetically matching the colours of Rashtrapati Bhavan, North and South Block buildings and the greenery of the NDMC area.

The minister denied that the new colour scheme causes low visibility during night.“There is no standard colour scheme by law. In fact, in about 20 sq km NDMC area, for several decades, the kerbstones are simply red/pink sandstone colour and there have been no objections to the monochromatic colour scheme either,” the reply said.    

“The NDMC has attempted a colour scheme which has contrast of light and dark, but most importantly, an innovation of while fluorescent chemical paint which provides reflectivity and has a safety feature. This is being applied throughout and the work would be completed by December 15,” it said.

The Delhi Traffic Police had earlier objected to replacing the black and yellow colour scheme by the pink and green one. New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi slammed the council and wrote to the traffic police to take action against the move.