In a significant development, Manickam Tagore, Congress MP from Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar constituency, highlighted a pressing issue concerning the newly constructed Parliament building. On Thursday, Tagore shared a video on social media platform X, showing water leaking in the Parliament lobby used by the President. He announced his intention to move an adjournment motion on this issue in the Lok Sabha.
Tagore’s post read, “Paper leakage outside, water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion. Moving adjournment motion on this issue in the Lok Sabha.”
This incident follows several days of heavy rainfall in Delhi and its surrounding areas, leading to severe waterlogging in many places across the National Capital Region (NCR). Even the newly constructed Parliament building was not spared from the waterlogging, raising questions about its construction quality and resilience.
Renowned journalist Rajdeep Sardesai also commented on the situation, sharing a video of a waterlogged road outside the Parliament house. He remarked, “When our ‘new’ parliament building is water-logged, what chance do we the citizens have?” Sardesai criticized the rapid construction of the new building, stating, “The haste with which the new building was constructed has resulted in a structure that lacks aesthetics and character. Meanwhile, the wonderfully distinctive and charming old parliament building and iconic central hall lie mostly unused, which is saddening. Taxpayer money is going literally down the drain.”
The Central Vista development and redevelopment projects, which include the new Parliament building, are estimated to cost approximately Rs 20,000 crore. These projects encompass various significant constructions, including MP Chambers, Central Vista Avenue, 10 buildings of the Common Central Secretariat, a Central Conference Centre, additional buildings for the National Archives, a new IGNCA building, facilities for security officials, residences for the Vice President and Prime Minister, an Executive Enclave with the PM’s Office, the relocation of the National Museum, and the transfer of hutments across 90 acres.
Scheduled in phases until 2026, the current focus has been on the New Parliament Building (Rs 862 crore) and the Central Vista Avenue redevelopment (Rs 477 crore). As of March 2021, Rs 195 crore has been spent, with a budget of Rs 790 crore allocated for 2021-22. The final costs for other projects will be determined after detailed project reports and tendering processes.