Supreme Court agrees to hear plea to stop Central Vista construction during Covid-19

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a petition to stay the construction work of the Central governments Central Vista project amid the surge in Covid19 casesThe petition moved by Anya Malhotra and Sohail Hashmi asked the Supreme Court to suspend all construction activity of the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project in compliance with orders issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority during the subsistence of the peak phase of the ongoing Covid19 pandemicThe Supreme Court said Well see it However the Apex Court did not give a date for hearing the matterThe Apex Court also asked the petitioners lawyer to first circulate the case details to parties and file for hearing before it the appeal filed against yesterdays Delhi High Court order over plea to stay work of Central Vista project in Central Vista projectEarlier on Tuesday the Delhi High Court said it will hear on May 17 in detail the plea seeking direction to haltsuspend all construction activity of the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project in compliance with orders issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority during the subsistence of the peak phase of the ongoing Covid19 pandemicA bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh adjourned the matter on TuesdayMeanwhile Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appearing for the Union of India opposed the plea and said the petition is of doubtful credentialsPetitioners Anya Malhotra and Sohail Hashmi represented by the senior advocate Sidharth Luthra in the matter have stated that the petition is concerned with the ongoing construction activity in the part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project designated as Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project and is challenging Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and CPWDs relentless unmindful and reckless act of carrying on this project in a manner that poses a threat to the lives of the citizens of Delhi and beyond including the lives of the workforcelabour engaged in the project as it has the potential of being a super spreader and is in clear breach and violation of the Orders passed by the Delhi Disaster Management AuthorityThe plea stated that at a time when Delhi is grappling with a devastating coronavirus outbreak and when all efforts particularly and more so by the state and its agencies have to be towards controlling the spiraling situation the impugned acts of the respondents will nullify and negate all those effortsThe plea also states that the petitioners are also questioning why or how the project constitutes an essential service merely because some executive mandated contractual deadline has to be metIn December 2020 the Central Vista Development Project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra ModiThe project intends to revamp 86 acres of land in Delhi which includes Rajpath Parliament House Rashtrapati Bhavan India Gate North Block and South Block Shastri Bhavan India Gate and Udyog Bhavan The project envisages the construction of a new Parliament building a common secretariat for central government offices the Prime Ministers office and residence the Special Protection Group building and VicePresident EnclaveThe construction work for the project is being carried out since January 5 2021 after the Supreme Court dismissed petitions challenging the projectThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever