India Gate spruces up for Games

A rush of makeovers is steadily propelling Delhi to put forward its best foot before the Commonwealth Games next year. It is now time to take care of the Capital’s heart.

The Central Public Works Department has taken up the task of renovating the city’s famous landmark, the Central Vista — or the entire area surrounding the India Gate, including the Rajpath, the lawns flanking it and also the National Stadium.

The idea is to give it back its pristine look when India Gate was unveiled in 1931, Chief Architect of CPWD and Secretary of the Central Vista Committee R K Kakar told Newsline.

On the drawing board are flattening of the lawns, changing all damaged stones and vertical posts, also known as bollards, and cleaning up the area’s water bodies.

Longer-lasting granite bollards will replace the simple cemented ones all along the Rajpath. Parts of the iron chain that gatekeep the lawns along Rajpath have gone missing and will be put in place, Kakar said.

Kakar said level of the lawns has also increased over the years due to layers of manure and soil dumped on the surface regularly. Since the lawns have become elevated, the rains wash away the soil into the nearby water bodies, thereby choking them.

“We will flatten the lawns to their original level before planting fresh grass. We are also looking at ways to gather rain water around trees, so that the water does not flow down to the water bodies,” Kakar said.

Due to wear and tear, the Rajpath has also shifted course at places from the straight road it used to be. To make it appear straight, the CPWD has decided to keep the dust off the road, since dust dilutes boundaries.

For this, two strips of sandstone will now be placed on the entire stretch — one, between the Rajpath’s lawns and the bollards and the second, between the road and the red gravel sidewalks.

Both strips will act as buffers — so that dust from the flowerbeds does not reach the lawns and that from the sidewalks to the road. Without the dust flying around, the road will appear sharper, and seem straight, sources said.

At present, sandstone strips are being erected on an 80-metre stretch in the middle of Rajpath to check if the idea is feasible. Work on replacing bollards, the chains and cleaning the water bodies is also on. Besides this, the CPWD is also working on laying fresh footpaths of red sandstone on the Central Vista.

For the rest, CPWD is looking at a Republic Day deadline. Kakar said: “Finalising all details is an ongoing process. The spruce-up should be completed well before the Games.”