New Delhi42 minutes agoAuthor: Vaibhav Palnitkar
Lutyens’ Zone, the most posh area of Delhi. Country’s power corridor. India Gate, Parliament House, PMO, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Ministry Office…everything is right here, in this area. That’s Central Vista Avenue.
As you reach in front of India Gate, the 3.2 km long grand ‘Durya Path’ will be visible. It starts from India Gate and goes till Rashtrapati Bhavan. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 8 September. The drone show took place here at around 8.35 pm on Thursday night. 250 drones made 8 formations including the face of Subhash Chandra Bose and the flag of Azad Hind Fauj.
The drone show was done by the same team of innovators who had showcased 1,000 drones at the Beating the Retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk earlier in the year.
For about 19 months, this area remained closed for the general public. Its re-development went on inside. It was opened to the public on 9 September. The people who came here to see it on the first day, said – it has become very beautiful.
Now here there is green grass, greenery, cleanliness, open space, clear water canals and fountains enhancing their beauty. Green grass is spread on 100 acres of land on either side of the duty path. You can’t walk on it though. When he tries to enter the lawn, the guards stop him.
We reached here at 10 am after Central Vista Avenue opened and stayed till 10 pm. We have been here many times before, so the change between before and now is clearly visible. In one line, a lot has changed here.
Flying dust and bad fountains are no longer visible
If you have ever been to India Gate and the surrounding area before, you will remember the dust flying in the grounds near India Gate, wandering people, frozen canals, bad fountains and many more toy bikes and cars. There is nothing like that now.
Before crossing the road to reach India Gate, one had to wait for the traffic signal to turn green at the zebra crossing. Had to deal with long traffic. Now there are underways on both sides of the road. The grand history of the capital Delhi is seen passing through them. The posters on the wall show the picture of this history.
India Gate is visible on exit after crossing the Underway. Here we got tourists from different parts. We asked Pranana Dhulia from Ahmedabad what is the difference between before and now. He said- Greenery is more than before. The space has also increased.
Rameshchandra Vidyalankar from Meerut district has come to visit with wife Shimlesh. They say that there is a difference between the earth and the sky before and now. I didn’t feel like here before. Now there is greenery all around.
Beautiful lawns on either side of the War Memorial
For many years we have seen the torch of Jai Jawan Jyoti burning under India Gate. Now he is not. This flame has been merged with the flame of the War Memorial. On moving forward, one sees an umbrella made of stones, which used to be empty earlier. Now a life-size statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has been installed at this place.
The War Memorial is behind India Gate. There are beautiful lawns and canals on both sides. There were canals earlier also, but then there used to be moss in them. Now clean water is flowing in these canals.
Pink Granite Stone Corridor For Walking
Long and beautiful corridors of pink granite stone have been formed for walking. To make it not difficult to find the address, there are sign boards and maps everywhere. Toilets are clean. Gender neutral toilets have been specially made.
When the paths on foot meet with the bridge over the canals, it is not known while walking. The air filtering through the Jamun trees, the beautiful yellow flowers of the Banana plants. And the fountains making the sound of yesterday.
As the evening progressed, the crowd at India Gate increased. There are beautiful poles on both sides of the duty path. Their design dates back to the British times, but their technology has been updated. The light yellow light emanating from them in the evening makes the duty path more beautiful.
People happy, but vendors selling goods upset
In front of India Gate, we found Bunty Yadav, a spectacle seller. They have been doing this work for 6 years. Bunty is happy with the construction done here. They hope that now more tourists will come here. Like him, Rajkumar Kashyap has been selling balloons and toys here for 30 years. They are the second generation of the family doing this work. His father passed 50 years doing the same work.
The prince is worried about his livelihood. He says that Central Vista Avenue has become very nice. Bus sellers are being stopped. Where will these people go?
PM Modi said – Rajpath, a symbol of slavery, has now become a duty path
The duty path was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 8 pm on Thursday. He said that Kingsway, the symbol of slavery, which has become a matter of history from today, has been erased forever. Today Rajpath has ceased to exist, so this is not the first example of slavery mentality.
PM Modi said that those who have worked here will be my special guest in the program of 26 January along with the family.
He said that the Rajpath was for the British Raj, for whom the people of India were slaves. Today its architecture has also changed, and its spirit has also changed. The path of duty is not just a road of bricks and stones. When the people of the country come here, the statue of Netaji, the National War Memorial, all these will give them such a great inspiration. Will imbue them with a sense of duty.
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