Kabul, Aug. 27: The Indian-built Parliament for Afghanistan that will have its groundbreaking ceremony in the presence of former King Zahir Shah and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will come up in a field of war waste in west Kabul.

The Parliament complex for which India will spend half a million dollars will be situated about 200 metres from the Darualaman palace that is now a bombed-out shell.

The spot is currently occupied by Canadian forces in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). They have established at the spot what is called Camp Julian.

The actual construction of the Parliament complex by the Indian government’s Central Public Works Department will begin after the Canadian troops move out. They are to be deployed south of Kabul.

The palace and its grounds, where the Parliament complex is to come up, saw some of the worst fighting in the wars that have ravaged Afghanistan.

The palace was built by King Amanullah in the 1920s. The grounds are literally minefields and notices in red put up by demining groups read “DANGER UXOs” (unexploded explosives).

Charred helicopters, skeletons of aircraft and burnt vehicles are dumped in the grounds. The road to the major counting centre for Afghanistan leads through this. The centre is in the Darulaman barracks of the Afghan National Army.

Indian official sources, speaking on the Parliament complex, said the buildings will house both chambers and also a library.

The Wolesi Jirga (the Lower House), to which elections are to be held on September 18, and the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House) will be sheltered in the complex.

There will be separate rooms for the Speaker, deputy Speaker, chairman of the Meshrano Jirga and for the leader of the Opposition, even if Afghanistan does not have a multi-party system.

The complex will include a dining hall, a canteen, a media room, a gallery for the press, a prayer hall, library and an auditorium plus a car park.

Till India builds the Parliament, the Lower House after it is elected on September 18 will sit in a complex of tents where the Loya Jirga, the assembly of Afghan tribes, meets.

India’s own Parliament was built by the British.