In a high level meeting held on Wednesday to review the preparations for the G-20 Summit, Lt Governor VK Saxena stressed on the need for a "complete" makeover of the city that will host eight events of the summit, beginning March 1, 2023.
The G-20 summit is an unprecedented opportunity for Delhi to emerge as a “forever clean and forever in celebration” city, Saxena said.
The meeting was also scheduled to be attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but he could not do so due to health reasons, officials said.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said in the meeting that the G20 summit will provide a good opportunity to develop the national capital further and asserted that the guests will be welcomed with a "festive mood." The LG pointed out that there were just 108 days left until the first event in March and only 250 days left until the G-20 Summit in September, 2023.
He called for a seamless coordination between various implementing agencies and work as a team. Any lapse in delivery will be taken "extremely seriously" with responsibilities being fixed and stringent action being taken, an official statement said.
"Saxena stressed on the need for a complete makeover and refurbishing of the city that will host 8 events of the summit, beginning March 1, 2023 when the G-20 Foreign Ministers will meet in the city and culminating in the Summit meeting of Head of states on September 9-10, 2023," it said.
The preparations ahead of the summit will involve improvements in road travel, transport, walkability, refurbishing signages, beautification of flyovers, sprucing up of central verges of roads and footpaths and waterlogging prevention since six of the eight summit events to be hosted in Delhi have been scheduled in Monsoon season.
According to the statement, sanitation will be the other big area, involving cleaning and beautification of roads, fast tracking of work to flatten three landfill sites (garbage dumps) with an aim to complete flattening of one at Okhla before commencement of the summit events.
Indian culture will be showcased with landscaping and facade designing and illumination of monuments and architectural landmarks of the city including Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Lodhi Garden, Purana Quila, and Humayun's tomb.
Apart from this, iconic markets in the city including Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk, Khan Market and Dilli Haat will be spruced up and overhauled.
Visits of G-20 delegates to these markets and langars at places like Bangla Sahib and ISKCON temple will be organised on the sidelines of the summit events.
The LG listed tasks such as ensuring uniformity of architectural and aesthetical aspects of the stretch between Kartavya Path (Central Vista), where most visiting delegates will travel, and other sites such as the convention centre at Pragati Maidan.
He also stressed upon the need for augmenting the 5G network in and around the summit sites, sprucing up of hotels, especially in the NDMC area, introduction of double-decker buses on limited roads and operationalisation of Hop-on Hop-off (HoHo) buses, among others.
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot assured the meeting that all required steps with regard to acquisition of electric buses and branding of public transport will be completed on time, the statement said.
Sisodia said the Delhi government has the responsibility of hosting the guests properly.
"One lakh guests are expected for the summit and Delhi will welcome them with a festive mood so that they take back a good impression of our country," he said.
Sisodia said that there are multiple departments working on the preparations for the summit including NDMC, and other Delhi government agencies including horticulture department, and PWD.
The meeting was also attended by Delhi chief secretary, commissioner of police, chairman (NDMC), vice chairman of DDA, and top officers of MCD, PWD, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Transport Corporation, traffic and tourism departments among others.
