New parliament is made with all colours of India

The new Parliament is all decked up for a ceremonial inauguration tomorrow. The new building features the essence of whole India and every corner inside the complex has a significance of different Indian states.

Along with the mammoth on-site construction activities, the making of the new Parliament building entailed several off-site key construction tasks as well. Materials used in its building have been sourced from states including Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and other places.

In line with Red Fort and Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, the sandstone has been procured from Sarmathura in Rajasthan.

The Kesharia green stone, installed inside the Lok Sabha chamber, has been brought from Rajasthan’s Udaipur. Red granite, installed inside the Rajya Sabha chamber, brought from Ajmer’s Lakha and the white marbles from Ambaji in Rajasthan.

The teakwood has been procured from Maharashtra’s Nagpur. Furniture installed inside was crafted in Mumbai.

The lattice work by stone surrounding the building were brought from Rajasthan, Noida and Uttar Pradesh.

False ceilings structures made of steel were procured from Daman and Diu.

Materials used in sculpting Ashoka Emblem were brought from Aurangabad and Jaipur.

Both Ashoka Chakras installed inside upper and lower Houses were sourced from Indore.

Sculptors from Abu Road in Udaipur did the stone carving work and stone aggregates were brought from Kotputali.

Controversial project

The new triangular parliament building is part of a major overhaul of New Delhi’s colonial-era administrative center dubbed the Central Vista Redevelopment Project. Since it was announced in September 2019, the plan has drawn criticism from politicians, architects and heritage experts over the cost and timing of the works.

Branded by some as expensive, environmentally irresponsible and a threat to cultural heritage, the project will see dozens of new government buildings spread across more than 85 acres of land, including Modi’s elaborate new private residence.

In 2020, a petition was filed to India’s Supreme Court opposing plans on legal and environmental grounds. That same year, a group of 60 former civil servants wrote a scathing open letter to Modi describing the project as a “thoughtless and irresponsible act.”

The group also highlighted the architectural value of buildings earmarked for demolition, saying that the scheme would “irrevocably” destroy the area’s cultural heritage.

Outrage grew in 2021, after it emerged that construction at the site had been deemed an “essential service” and was thus exempted from a city-wide Covid-19 lockdown. This meant that work on the parliament continued as a devastating second coronavirus wave pushed hospitals to breaking point and sent people begging for oxygen in the streets.

The government defended its decision to push ahead with construction, saying that delaying work would create “liabilities” and affect workers’ livelihoods.