Tunnels will link PM, VP's houses with new Parliament building
The new Parliament building, one of the most ambitious projects of the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, will have underground tunnels, connecting it with the residences of the Prime Minister, the Vice-President, as well as chambers of Members of Parliament (MPs), TOI reported on Thursday. The idea is to make security protocols, linked with these high-profile posts, less disruptive.
PM's house will come up on South Block side
As per the Central Vista redevelopment plan, a new PM house and Prime Minister's Office (PMO) will be constructed on the South Block side whereas a new residence for the Vice-President will come up on the North Block side. The MPs' chambers will be built just across the Parliament, where the Transport and Shram Shakti Bhawans are located at present.
Rashtrapati Bhavan won't be linked with Parliament
The proposed tunnels would not be expansive but instead would be restricted to just one lane as they are meant for only exclusive persons, the report added. It was concluded that a tunnel linking the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament isn't required as both are situated at some distance from one another. Moreover, the President's visits to the Parliament are limited and usually pre-planned.
The plan is to ease public access to the area
The main motive of these tunnels is to ease public access to the area. Evidently, stretches are blocked to facilitate the travel of VIPs. "In the proposed development at the Central Vista, as a strategy to improve public access in the area for visitors and tourists, the routes of VIPs that need high security are segregated from regular public movement routes," sources told TOI.
PM Modi laid foundation stone for new Parliament in December
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December. "The new building will be witness to the building of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)," he had said at the time. In January, the Supreme Court gave its nod to the project, junking pleas that claimed the project violated land use regulations as well as environmental norms.
