New Delhi: At a time when speculation is rife on whether the existing Parliament building will host the upcoming Winter Session as both houses prepare to shift to the new Parliament building, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Jawhar Sircar has once again questioned whether the shift, reportedly taking place on the grounds that the old building is seismically unsafe, was justified.
“…[T]he Parliament is being shifted without least modicum of consultation,” Sircar alleged.
A former IAS officer, Sircar had served as a secretary in the Union government as well as chairperson of public broadcaster Prasar Bharti. Since becoming a Rajya Sabha MP, he has, on several occasions, raised concerns surrounding the Central Vista Redevelopment Project.
Over the past year, he has also written several letters in this regard to Union minister of housing and urban affairs, Hardeep Puri.
Hardeep Puri termed old Parliament building ‘unsafe’
In his latest letter on November 11, 2022, Sircar wrote to Puri that it was the minister “who raised the issue that the existing Sansad Bhavan may be unsafe and in a seismic danger zone”. However, he claimed that his queries on the issue remain unanswered.
“Sadly, Parliamentarians have been kept totally in the dark for the last two years about the features, advantages and disadvantages of the New Parliament Building,” Sircar wrote.
In his letter, Sircar also alleged that the minister did not reply to a detailed letter sent to him on October 14.
Talking to The Wire, Sircar said that while on the one hand, the Parliament was being shifted without any discussion, “the second point that I have raised is that they have used the excuse of it being a hundred-year old building and of it being in seismic zone IV (for shifting).”
“But that,” the TMC MP said, “applies to all the buildings in the area. So it applies to North Block and South Block as well, as also to Rashtrapati Bhawan. So what have you done for them? Have you strengthened them all?”
Also read: Amid Accusations Of Secrecy, PM Modi To Lay Foundation Of New Parliament Building
Further, Sircar said that the Union government is saying that it will use the North and South Blocks for museums.
“This is a terrible idea. Imagine them housing artefacts (in unsafe buildings),” Sircar said. “A museum requires halls while these buildings mostly have small rooms.”
Incidentally, in his October letter, Sircar had mentioned how a Notice Inviting Bid (NIB) issued by Central Public Works Department in September 2019 had stated: “… [M]ost of the buildings in the Central Vista area are more than 40-50 years old and have either outlived or approaching their structural lives (sic). Further, buildings constructed over 100 years ago, such as North and South Block, are not earthquake safe.”
‘Safety of Parliament building to seismic zone change’: Puri
In his letter, Sircar also recalled how the Puri had linked the safety of the Parliament building to safety issues related to the seismic zone in which it lies. He wrote that Puri had stated on October 9, 2021 that, “…[W]hen the building was constructed, it was in Seismic Zone II and today, that area is in Seismic Zone IV. It is not an exaggeration. We don’t want to create panic…”
Further, the Rajya Sabha MP said Puri, in a letter to him on January 29, 2022, had stated that “…[T]he earthquake risk factor for Delhi has moved from Seismic Zone II, at the time of construction of this 93-year-old building, to Seismic Zone IV, and is likely to be upgraded to Zone V. These factors compel us to undertake conservation measures to preserve this heritage building (i.e Sansad Bhavan), whereas offices are shifted to the new Common Central Secretariat buildings, and will be converted into the National Museum.”
Finally, in a May 1, 2022 Puri, according to Sircar, held: “… [K]eeping in mind the significance and longevity of the building, in consultation with IIT-Delhi, we have decided to include the standards of Seismic Zone V, one level higher than the present Seismic Zone of Delhi, in the design of the New Parliament Building whereas the regular government buildings are designed to the standards of Seismic Zone IV.”
Why the fear of a strong earthquake may be misplaced
In his October 2022 letter to the Union housing minister, Sircar pointed out, “To align with international seismic zoning standards, Zone 0 was retired in 1984 and Zone I was retired in 2002 and their areas were rezoned into Zone II and Zone III. The erstwhile Zone- II (that covered Delhi) itself was merely renamed as Zone IV, just as the erstwhile Zone IV became the highest India seismic risk factor (Zone-V) in 1984 itself.”
“It is clear that the elevation of seismic threat to Central Vista structures is not due to some new seismic threat data or analysis but merely due to a change in nomenclature by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) over the past 53 years to align with international seismic zoning standards.”
Thus Sircar reasoned that the fear of stronger earthquakes may be misplaced.
Also read: We Don’t Need a New Parliament Building
‘Safe buildings being demolished, unsafe being retained’
Speaking to The Wire, he also asked that if the strength of the buildings was the criteria, why was the Union government breaking down buildings that are seismically safe?
“These include Nirman Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan, Udyog Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan, Jawahar Bhawan, Vigyan Bhawan, National Museum, National Archives Annexe and the already demolished Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA),” Sircar said.
Sircar also quipped that on the other hand, the Union government was retaining the Parliament Library and Annexe, Rail Bhawan and Vayu Bhawan, which are also old buildings. He insisted there was no rationale behind any of the moves.
“In fact, all buildings built after IS 1893 became the Indian Seismic Standard are being demolished while all the buildings built prior to that are being retained,” the MP wrote in his letter. “Was any structural audit (before or after the consultancy tender award) conducted to arrive at this logic-defying decision?”
Did the cost of the new Parliament building go up by Rs 1,200 crore due to Seismic Zone V standards?
Sircar had, in his October letter, also cautioned that “…[I]f designed unnecessarily to the standards applicable to Seismic Zone V, the structure of the new Parliament building will necessarily be more expensive than it needs to be.”
He had stated that “when last publicly stated, in January 2022, the new Parliament is estimated to cost almost Rs 1,200 crores (up almost 25% from original estimate of Rs 960 crore)”.
The MP had therefore asked Puri, “Is the cost escalation due to the decision to design for Zone V standards?”
However, Sircar claimed that the minister has not bothered to respond to any of his queries since May. “He has not replied since May this year despite having all the facts with him. He just does not understand the issues. There is a total lack of appreciation of the concerns raised. I am also raising these issues so that they come into the records of the Comptroller and Auditor General. These indictments that I am making will all remain there as pointers,” Sircar said.
In his latest November 11 letter to Puri, Sircar has raised these issues in a concise form again.
He asked:
(a) Is the existing Sansad Bhavan unsafe and in any seismic danger?
(b) Is the New Parliament Building in a better state to withstand any seismic danger?
(c) Has the expenditure on the New Parliament Building escalated to over Rs.1200 crore, as a result of the additional strengthening made therein in terms of Zone V standards?
(d) Has much of the additional expenditure been based on an improper or exaggerated understanding of seismic safety and has any structural audit been taken?
(e) Are the Bhavans in the Central Vista Zone like Krishi, Udyog, Shastri, Nirman, Vigyan, Jawahar Lal Nehru and the National Museum as well as the National Archives Annexe seismically safe?
(f} If yes, would they be demolished while other seismically unsafe buildings like Rail Bhavan and Vayu Bhavan as well as Parliament Library and Annexe would not be touched?
(g) What is the seismic danger faced by North and South Blocks that you propose to re-use as Museums?
(h) Why can‘t we have a single ’Central Hall‘ in the new Parliament Building instead of the present divide and rule policy of having two separate smaller Central Halls?
(i) What stops government from ordering a ‘3-D Imaging Test’ of the National Symbol placed at the top of the new Parliament Building, so as to settle once for all the misgivings about the degree of variation/distortions of the original image at Sarnath?
It remains to be seen when and if at all the government answers any of these questions.
