Republic Day: Govt plans to make arrangements for 1 lakh visitors; Rs 112-crore tender to hire bleachers

Jul 19,2022

The government has planned to make seating arrangements for around one lakh people for the Republic Day celebrations on the newly developed Rajpath, with CPWD floating a Rs 112-crore tender to hire bleachers for such functions for five years, official sources said on Tuesday.

They said that a stepped seating arrangement will be provided to visitors to allow better view of the Republic Day Parade. Each row of seat will have sufficient level difference to ensure good visibility. Bleachers or tier stands are raised and tiered rows of benches found at stadiums and other events.

As COVID-19 situation is under control in the national capital, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) is making such arrangements which were in place before the pandemic.

According to the CPWD's tender document, currently, the angle iron and MS (mild steel) channel tiered stands with bucket seats are placed on the lawns on either side of Rajpath for seating purpose during every Republic Day.

It says the arrangement is very old and has been used since or before 1996. This damages the grass of the lawn, while the fixing and removing take one to two months.

To overcome this, 33,200 bleachers were purchased last year for the 2022 Republic Day celebrations, the document states.

"This year, we are making seating arrangements for one lakh visitors and hence, we have floated a tender worth over Rs 112 crore to hire 31,000 bleachers," a source told PTI.

The bid document states that bleachers/chairs erected for the Republic Day parade will be shifted for the beating retreat ceremony immediately.

"After approval of samples of material to be used in the work, the contractor shall prepare a mock-up on the site of actual size as directed by engineer in-charge and architect. This mock-up shall include all components, i.e bleachers, chairs and railing.

"This sample will be displayed for inspection by engineer in-charge, security agencies and other stakeholders. After approval of the mock-up unit, the mass production shall be started by the agency (contractor)," the CPWD said in its ..

It also says that the contractor will make necessary arrangements to keep away unauthorised persons to take photographs or videos.

According to the CPWD, the contractor can use the bleachers/tier stands for private functions as marketed or arranged by him/them but will have to give the credit to the department of Rs 2,500 per seat of bleacher for maximum of seven days.

The material will be taken away and returned to the store in good condition at their own cost, it states.

This year, the Republic Day parade had been held on the newly developed Rajpath after CPWD gave a priority to the stretch required for holding the grand celebrations under the redevelopment project of Central Vista Avenue stretching from Vijay Chowk to India Gate.

Earlier this month, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the Central Vista Avenue redevelopment project would soon be completed.

The redevelopment project of the entire Central Vista - the nation's power corridor - envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a common central secretariat, revamping of the three-km-long Rajpath from Vijay Chowk to India Gate, a new prime minister's residence, a Prime Minister's Office, and a new vice-president's encl ..

Recently, Hyderabad-based construction firm DEC Infrastructure has emerged as the lowest bidder for building the Executive Enclave that will house the PMO, the Cabinet Secretariat, the India House and the National Security Council Secretariat.