CAPITAL OF INDIA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 11 February 1925, Page 3

CAPITAL OF INDIA.

THE NEW DELHI

TO BE COMPLETED NEXT YEAR. Twelve years ago the architects and engineers began their task of giving effect to. the King-Emperor’s command that Delhi should once again become the capital of India (writes a correspondent of tl|e Times). But tor the war the Government of India and all its appurtenances would now be in Raisina, the suburb of ancient Delhi selected for the uew capital. Controversy lias raged round the decision which his Majesty took, on the advice of Lord Hardinge. Calcutta, the dispossessed, has been a vigorous exponent of the views ot the critics, a;iid, although she has ceased to regret the disappearance of the Government of India from her midst, she still preserves some acidity of tone when New Delhi is mentioned. Later, ethers claiming that they were advocates of economy have talked at large of the wastefulness of Lord Hardinge’s“ dream city” scheme. Th© expansion of the needs of the Government of India would have probably involved, in tlic long run, much greater expenditure it they had remained in Calcutta, owing to the rapid appreciation in the value of land in that city. Moveover, assuming the change in capital was desirable, it cannot reasonably be maintained that, at current prices, the sum of £15,000,000 is an excessive outlay if a symbol worthy of the greatest Empire India has yet seen is to. appear in the area where, at least seven mighty capitals have risen and decayed. It is now possible to give a brief outline of the position in which New Delhi stands structurally. It will probably be fullv occupied by the Government of India at the beginning of the cold weather of 1926-7. It is extraordinarily difficult to arrive at a method of explaining what the construction of the city means. It might be stated, for example, that the. foundations' ot Viceregal Lodge and the Secretariat have taken. two-thirds of the time that will eventually be shown to have been occupied in their completion. Statistics might be recorded showing that 70 miles of pipes will irrigate the city, and the same number of miles of pipes is necessary for its water supply; 69 miles represent its sewerage. 202 miles its length of electric cables, 54 miles of metalled road will provide its main communications, and 22 miles its storm-water drains. Accommodation is required for a population not expected to exceed 66.000. The cost cf installing telephones is roughly estimated at £1,000,000. and the necessary railway diversions will involve considerable initial outlay. . „ _ , • . The construction of hew Delhi is divided into two parts, putting aside as finished and forgotten the underground complications of sewers, drains, water-pipes, and the like. On the one hand, there is" the provision of the residental accommodation; on the other, the introduction of the three main factors in the Government of India — Viceregal Lodge, the Trinity of Princes, and the two chambers,, of tlic Legislature and the Secretariat. Officers’ bungalows have long reached completion, and many of them are inhabited. Houses for -the*members of theVieeroy’s Council will lie finished very soon. The Commander-in-Cliief’s house —on the small side, but thoughtfully planned — will be finished before the end of next hot weather. The roads are well bordered by trees, and also by stately, serried lines of electric light standards, wherein the current already functions, making the new city a veritable fairyland at night. Away on the outskirts shops have sprung up and are profiting bv the population thus early inhabiting Raisina. For, in addition to the large number of people engaged on building the capital, an appreciable portion of the Staffs of the Government of India are now living there in the cold weather.

Frankly, little can be said of the main features of Raisina. That is not intended as a criticism. Of the three main buildings, the ‘‘Trinity” Chamber is the only one which to the outside view shows any marked advance on last year. Yet much has really been done at Viceregal Lodge and the Secretariat. Only the immensity of the work conceals the progress made. But in Viceregal Lodge you can now warm yourself In the glow of admiration at Sir Edwin Lutyens’s wonderful gift of' proportion as you look along the straight lines of the* corridors and appreciate the- intention of a “lay-out” which will give to future Viceroys the inestimable benefit of being able to perform their official and at. the same time preserve the domestic privacy which, they have ' hitherto * failed to enjoy. Inside, the Secretariat is a poem of austerity and charm—a quaint combination. Outside it suffers from appearing to be surprisingly squat, but, owing to the accidental configuration of the terrain,' It. masks Viceregal Lodge and therefore proves in bricks and mortar that the babu dominates India. But Mr. Horbejrt Baker is to be warmly congratulated on the result achieved by his genius, which has also been applied to the rotunda that .is to comprise the three deliberative bodies on whom the Government of India in future will rely. It has been criticized by an expert committee as unduly extravagant. But 31 r. Baker has evolved a building which will !>e creditable to the India of the future. Spacious lobbies and room for expansion 'are the main features of the design, and so great has been the progress made that,, _in spite of delays in the transport of mete rial owing to the floods, the “Trinity” building is so far advanced that it appears not a whit of step with the other important edifices which go, to complete the structural expression of the - Governments of India at New Delhi.