An
international group of artists, curators, scholars, and historians signed a
statement calling for the government of India to put an immediate halt to its
Central Vista redevelopment plan in New Delhi in light of the public health
emergency the nation faces as Covid-19 surges there a second time, The Hindu reports. Of particular
concern to the signatories is the scheduled demolition of the National Museum,
the National Archives, and the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, and
the attendant relocation of the treasures contained therein in a responsible
fashion.
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“There was a clear logic in the urban planning of Delhi to keeping these cultural, archival and historical centres in close proximity to each other,” contend the missive’s authors. “The National Museum, in particular, has historical value and requires renovation and augmentation, not demolition. The rushed destruction of these structures will cause irrevocable harm to world-renowned institutions that have been painstakingly built over decades.”
Launched
in 2019, the Central Vista redevelopment project aims to revamp India’s central
administrative area, which is located near New Delhi’s Raisina Hill, home to
the country’s most important government buildings. Groundbreaking for the $2.8
billion four-year plan, which includes the creation of a new common Central
Secretariat housing all ministries, a new Parliament building, and new
residences and offices for India’s vice president and prime minister, took
place December 2020, just ahead of the pandemic.
“It is
especially troubling,” note the letter’s signatories, “that this extravagant
project is moving ahead in the midst of a devastating pandemic, endangering
workers, and squandering scarce resources that could be used to save lives.”
India to
date has reported 23 million Covid-19 infections, accounting for one in five
active infections worldwide, and a death toll of more than 250,000.
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