Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri underlined that the existing building was a council house of the British colonial power and was never designed as a parliament.
Stressing on the need for a new Parliament building, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said the current one is “insecure” and does not have the capacity to accommodate more MPs. During an interaction at the ‘India Today Conclave 2021’, Puri said that the Parliament building was in seismic zone II at the time of construction, but the area is now in seismic zone IV, which is a high damage risk zone.
“When the building was constructed, it was in seismic zone II and today, that area is in seismic zone IV. That’s no exaggeration. We don’t want to create panic, but you know you’re over the limit Puri said at the event.
The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs further underlined that the existing building was a council house of British colonial power and was never designed as a parliament. He also pointed to the increasing number of MPs since India’s independence. The next delimitation of parliamentary seats will take place in 2026, based on the 2021 census data.
“The number of members (parliaments) has been increasing since becoming an independent country. Therefore, there have been a lot of internal adjustments and new facilities have been added… From a purely structural point of view, it is an unsafe building.” he said.
The Vice President’s Enclave and the new Parliament House will be the first buildings to be completed under the Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment plan. The total estimated cost of revamping the Central Vista is approximately ₹20,000 crore.
Opposition parties have criticized the government for spending hundreds of crores on the Central Vista project amid the pandemic. But Puri insisted that the construction of the new Parliament building and the redevelopment of Central Vista Avenue would be completed in a time-bound manner.