Revamped Central Vista Set To Reopen On 9 September

With several new facilities and some restrictions, the revamped Central Vista Avenue and Rajpath will be thrown open to the public from September 9, a day after its inauguration.

While there would be adequate parking space for visitors' cars and buses, the new Vista would also have designated spots for ice cream shops, the most sought-after near India Gate lawns.

According to the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, vendors and ice cream shops will be allowed only at the designated vending zones along the lawns and parking for 1,117 cars and 35 buses will be provided.

But visitors will not be allowed to have picnic-type affairs on the lawns between Rajpath and the refurbished canals, which was a common sight earlier. Officials said such activities would be allowed only on the portions behind the canals, and children can also play in those areas.

Though there won't be restrictions on walking on the lawns, visitors would be urged to avoid them and use only the pathways.

Ministry maintains that the boating services at two canals — the ones behind Krishi Bhavan and the newly built Vanijya Bhavan — will start soon. All facilities that people enjoyed earlier would be restored, adding a few more recreational activities.

The redeveloped stretch will be open to the public after 20 months.

There will be more police deployment for a month as the footfall is expected to be high in the initial weeks after the area is thrown open to the public. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has also installed 300 advanced CCTV cameras for live monitoring, and even artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms will be used for preventive security. All visitors heading to India Gate and Netaji statue must pass a security check.

The Ministry maintains that there would be no loss of livelihood of people who have been doing their small businesses around India Gate. "Vendors and ice cream shops will be allowed at five vending zones that can accommodate around 200 such vendors. We will see how things take shape and then do the needful. The 16 kiosks on both sides of India Gate have been given to state governments to put up their stalls. Most of these will be selling state-speciality food items," said an official.

Initially, there won't be any charges for vehicle parking, but at a later stage, NDMC will manage these spots and collect the parking fee.

Officials admitted that maintaining the entire area would be challenging and appealed to people to maintain cleanliness.

The Ministry would encourage organisations that want to contribute to creating awareness among the visitors as it has to be a people's initiative to maintain the area.