If you remember from your middle school History textbooks and think Mohammed Bin Tughlaq was very stupid to have shifted his capital city, then you are quite mistaken in parts. While the execution of his plans was flawed, the shifting of the capital city has occurred time and again throughout history. Think of every time a new ruler took over the Indian subcontinent or even when the British empire shifted its capital from Calcutta to New Delhi, you’ll see how this plan has occurred in the past and is not an unlikely one.

For most of the rulers, the shift in the capital was to have better access to the majority of their empire and be well located to evade attacks from enemy regions. New Delhi being a landlocked region and quite close to the Khyber Pass gave it the advantage of location. However, in today’s times we do not need to be worried about the enemies since if they’d want to attack, they would fly down missiles to any part of the country (harsh reality!). So, the question remains if India needs a change in her capital city.

The reason for this change would primarily be the amount of pollution that has taken over the city, making it miserable for its inhabitants to breathe. The other issue is that of the excess population in the capital of the country. People want to settle in this city for more opportunities and one cannot blame them since the city does offer various more jobs and have the head office of a huge number of companies. Then again, Gurugram and Noida are two places around Delhi where the companies have opened their offices – lessening the burden on the capital and developing the nearby regions as well. Delhi had been carefully planned and developed to suit the needs of the urban centre in India. Then again, coming back to the question of pollution we notice how had things been less vital in this city then a lot more people may have had the opportunity to breathe some fresh air. 

The latest shift in the capital had been during the rule of the British Empire from Calcutta to New Delhi, and keeping that in mind we can approach a shift in the capital in two ways. First, the newly selected capital has to be as developed and well connected in its roads, railways and its airport. Second, the location chosen must have space and resources to adapt to this new change. A smaller population and being just the parliamentary city could do a lot better for the country. Any VIP movement would not disrupt the whole city and its busy nature, the new city could remain without such excess of pollution and protect the fame of the country’s capital from being the most polluted in the world, it would also create newer job opportunities while recruiting people to develop the new city – you could call it a fresh start for the country in a certain way. Which way you may ask, given the current political upheaval, to which in this case the simple answer would be that a shift in capital would allow for a cleaner name for India’s capital city. 

Lastly, even if India were to shift her capital, where would it be? The centre of the country falls around Nagpur (dead centre with the Zero Mile indicator) or Jabalpur (according to another source). It could be a good option since climatic conditions are same as New Delhi. Some more such options could be explored where the parliamentary activities would be from a geographical centre of the country.