Explained: What Happens To Old Parliament Building Now

New Delhi:

The parliament proceedings will move to the new building from tomorrow. The old parliament building has witnessed some historic events, including the adoption of the Constitution.

It was completed in 1927, and is now 96 years old. Over the years, it was found to be inadequate for present day requirements.

Speaking in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid tributes to “every brick” of the old building and said the MPs will enter the new building with “new hope and confidence”.

Old Building Won’t Be Demolished

The iconic parliament building, designed by British architects Sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, witnessed not just the struggle for independence, but also the country’s rise after that.

Government sources say the building won’t be demolished and that it will be “retrofitted” to provide more functional spaces for parliamentary events.

“The historic structure will be conserved, as it is an archaeological asset of the country,” sources said.

In 2021, the then Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had told the Rajya Sabha the existing structure would have to be repaired and made available for alternative use

The national archives will be shifted to the new parliament building for heritage-sensitive restoration, they said. This will further help the old Parliament building with more space.

Some reports also suggest that a part of the old building could be converted into a museum.

New Building

The new parliament building was inaugurated by the Prime Minister in May this year.

The huge building can comfortably seat 888 members in the Lok Sabha chamber and 300 in the Rajya Sabha chamber. For a joint sitting of both the houses, 1,280 MPs can be accommodated in the Lok Sabha chamber.

The triangular-shaped four-storey building has a built-up area of 64,500 square metres. It has three main gates – Gyan Dwar, Shakti Dwar and Karma Dwar – and separate entrances for VIPs, MPs and visitors.