The critics dwelt on a number of other points. They deplored the fact that the decision had been taken in secrecy without consulting the Legislative Council, or even the Lieutenant Governors and Governors of the provinces. The suitability of Delhi as a site for the capital was questioned. It was said that the climate was not healthy, it caused fevers and boils. It was a lifeless backwater of the Punjab province, remote from the major centres of commerce—Calcutta, Bombay, Karachi, and therefore the capital and the officials would end up in a bureaucratic enclave, distant from important public opinion. Even the symbolic importance of Delhi’s heritage was questioned—was it not, as one newspaper put it, a graveyard of dynasties? Among the various arguable weaknesses of the plan, the issue of the financial outlay was the most obvious and easy target of attack. The debate over the financing of the capital also ultimately came down to a question of the basic understanding of ...
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