Why just another Parliament House, build a new city instead

The British are not known to skimp on safety and durability when it comes to building structures that will contain important personages: witness the longevity of their royal residences and the Houses of Parliament in London.

It is curious and unfortunate, therefore, that a mere 85 years after they built the magnificent sandstone hub of the newest city of Delhi around Raisina Hill, the iconic Parliament House is being deemed unsafe.

Perhaps the British had not foreseen that the rambunctious nature of desi democracy, not to mention the increasing rumblings around Raisina Hill, could take a toll on the building.

It is unlikely that Messrs Lutyens and Baker would not have provided for expansion and upgrades; after all, the old Raj HQ at Kolkata’s Writers’ Buildings and the Union Buildings in Pretoria are still going strong.

However, as India’s indigenous record on sturdiness is uneven at best — the shutting down of Delhi’s year-old airport metro rail line last week due to problems is only the latest jolt — not much faith can be placed on good repairs either. But finding a new spot for Parliament, as some want, in alreadycrowded and expensive Delhi is almost impossible, too.

Awiser alternative would be to use this as a reason to build an entirely new capital, with enough official bhavans and bungalows to please every politician, bureaucrat, judge, general, tycoon and contractor.

Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s new capital 200 km away from its original one at Yangon, is a recent neighbourhood precedent. Besides generating much-needed economic activity in some greenfield site — maybe the British can also bid for some of the contracts — it could finally make Delhi affordable for the aam aadmi. Then, Raisina Hill’s buildings could be redeveloped as a heritage hotel complex.