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  • PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate Central Vista Avenue today and also unveil-the-Netaji's-statue-today

    National
    PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate Central Vista Avenue today and also unveil-the-Netaji's-statue-today
    The two-kilometer-long Rajpath, currently known as Kartavya Path, runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate and is covered with lawns on either side, totaling around 101 acres.

    Digital Desk: Walkways, seats, more lighting, and spruced-up lawns are stretched across 2 kilometres and 700 acres.

    This truly is the revitalized Central Vista Avenue in the heart of the national capital, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate on Thursday evening.

    The newly renamed Kartavya Path runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate and spans around 101 acres. According to project sources, they have been replanted with several varieties of grass suited to the site. Storm water drains have been installed to avoid water logging.

    Aerators have been installed in the canals on both sides of Rajpath, and the walls have been strengthened to prevent seepage. A total of 16 bridges have been built in textured lakha red granite, eight for each of the two canals. The bridge rails are built of red sandstone with carved jaalis. The canals also contain two parallel granite walkways that span 16.5 kilometres.

    There are also underpasses to help pedestrians cross. Two of these underpasses have been built at the Janpath crossing, and the other two have been built at the C-Hexagon crossing, both featuring ramps for the disabled.

    The redesigned facility also features eight new amenity blocks with updated labelling. There are 64 female bathrooms, 32 male toilets, and 10 accessible toilets for the disabled, as well as drinking water facilities present in the amenities complexes. To preserve the space's essence, these blocks are located below ground level. There are vending kiosks on two of these blocks near the stepped India Gate plaza.

    According to accounts, the original Jamun trees throughout the whole span have been saved, and 140 new trees have been planted.

    According to reports, the recently constructed bridges and increased lighting throughout the stretch have made the space more accessible to the public. A section of the land beyond the canals has been reserved for parking, with bays for 1,117 automobiles and 35 buses, as well as places designated for app-based taxis and auto rickshaws.

    The 74 old light poles along the stretch have been restored, refurbished, and reinstalled, and 900 new poles have been put along Rajpath, the canals, along rows of trees, newly formed parking bays, and the India Gate precinct.

    Power cables and drainage pipelines have all been relocated underground, and modular bleachers for the Republic Day parade have been planned.

    In addition, the Prime Minister will unveil a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose underneath the canopy at India Gate.

    The Central Vista Avenue project has a sanctioned cost of Rs 608 crore, according to authorities. According to a senior CPWD official, the CPWD will maintain the area with the contract for maintenance, which includes civil, horticultural, and electrical work.

    This year, a section of Central Vista Avenue was ready for Republic Day. The project was supposed to be finished by December 2021, however, it was pushed back to May 2022. Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited were in charge of the construction. The design phase began in October 2019, with construction beginning in February 2021.

    The sources accused Covid and a Supreme Court lawsuit for the delays.

    The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) also authorized the renaming of Rajpath to Kartavya Path on Wednesday. Meenakshi Lekhi, a council member and MP, said it was an effort to move the name "in touch with the norms and principles of democracy and current New India" and a departure from Colonial history.