Large urban redevelopment projects often overlook supporting institutions such as libraries and archives. Examine the need for heritage and institutional impact assessment in such projects.

Urban redevelopment rebuilds a city's buildings, but it often treats the institutions inside them as furniture that can be moved anywhere. The 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library (CSL) holds over 8.5 lakh books. It was told to vacate within 13 days for the Central Vista project, and the Supreme Court then intervened suo motu [1]. This case shows why a heritage and institutional impact assessment (HIIA) must come before a project begins, not after.

Why supporting institutions get overlooked

• Planning around offices: the project's new Common Central Secretariat buildings were planned for ministries' staff. Libraries were treated as an afterthought [2].
• Split ownership: the CSL comes under the Ministry of Culture, while Central Vista is run by MoHUA. No single body is responsible for the library's fate [1][2].
• Steps in the wrong order: the library was told to vacate before any layout for its new site was shown. The Court had to ask for that layout on affidavit [1].
• Heritage review treated as a formality: in Rajeev Suri v. DDA (2021), Justice Khanna's dissent pointed out that prior Heritage Conservation Committee approval had not been taken [3].

Why an assessment is needed

• The new space must actually work for the institution: book stacks need strong floors, climate control and reading rooms. A spare office floor is not enough.
• Public access must continue: researchers, civil servants and aspirants lose access to the library for as long as the move drags on.
• Institutional memory is at stake: archives and old collections record how the government has worked over time. Damage during a move cannot be undone.
• Government policy should be consistent: the Ministry of Culture funds extra space for public libraries under its Matching Schemes [4], yet one of its own libraries risks losing space.
• Accountability: a published assessment would answer concerns in advance. That would make court intervention, and the charge of judicial overreach, less likely.

What an HIIA should include

List affected institutions → Assess space & conservation needs
→ Certify the new site → Publish it → Relocate → Audit after the move

Flowchart: the order of steps in an HIIA

• Make it mandatory, like an EIA (environmental impact assessment), for projects in heritage areas. The parent ministry should co-sign it.
• No institution should be told to vacate until its new site is ready and made public.

Redevelopment and heritage protection can go together; the real failure is in the process. Building an HIIA into every major project would modernise the seat of government while respecting Article 51A(f), the duty to preserve India's heritage, and SDG 11.4, which calls for protecting cultural heritage.