New Delhi:
Old Delhi is an eclectic
mix of rich historical landmarks and the urbanised developments
thereafter. Heritage buildings like Jama
Masjid and Red
Fort and new developments like the Delhi
Metro have co-existed in the Walled city without affecting
each other. But Municipal Corporation of Delhi's redevelopment
plan for Special Areas may spell doom for the area, feel conservation
architects.
In a populist move, just before the elections, the civic agency
wants to allow vertical growth in the area, allowing 20-storey
buildings to come up alongside heritage structures.
Several heritage bodies claim that "replacing historic
fabrics with multi-storey buildings is an old concept that has
deprived many western nations of their heritage and it is surprising
that India was even considering such a scheme".
According to a former member of the MPD-2021 review committee,
the height restriction for residential properties would remain
15 metres in the Special Areas also. He said: "Even if the
MCD proposes 20-storey commercial complexes, such a plan would
have to get approval from DDA
technical committee, Archaeological Survey of India and Delhi
Urban Arts Commission. No one would allow vertical growth to such
an extent as it would ruin the essence of the Special Areas."
A consultant has been appointed by MCD for preparation of the
redevelopment plan for Special Areas and has been paid Rs 40 lakh
for this work. The completion time for the work is 18 months.
The plan will be prepared for the Walled City Shahjahanabad, Walled
City extension — Sadar Bazaar and Paharganj — Karol
Bagh commercial areas, Karol Bagh extension — predominantly
residential — Old Subzi Mandi and Roshnara Road and extension.
The Master Plan-2021 had mentioned that the MCD should come up
with a redevelopment plans for Special Areas within three years
of the notification of MPD. The civic agency also has to develop
Special Area building regulations in consultation with the civic
body. Moreover, hazardous trade needs to be shifted out of the
Special Areas during this period, which the MCD has been completely
unsuccessful in doing. The MCD's logic behind allowing vertical
growth is that the Special Areas are already very congested and
the only way to provide required facilities is to allow vertical
growth. Since the ground coverage allowed is 20% and FAR is 400,
a person can make upto 20 storeys.
Said standing committee chairman Vijender Gupta: "We want
to provide open green space in these areas and can only do this
by growing vertically. The heritage structures in the Special
Areas will be protected by us as per norms specified by ASI. We
want that after every cluster of residential buildings there should
be non-residential buildings. The property prices will shoot up
in these areas and will be beneficial for the people of this area."
The MCD also aims to make Special Areas look like extensions
of Connaught
Place. However, with towering buildings, it seems unlikely
it will look like anything more than an urban jungle. In fact,
people of Chandni Chowk claim this plan is completely "ridiculous".
Said secretary of the Chandni Chowk traders' association
Sanjay Bharghav: "In the Walled City, every second building
is a heritage structure. The plan to allow 20-storey buildings
to come up alongside them is ridiculous. It is impractical and
is part of the empty promises made by politicians before elections."
MCD also plans to redevelop ‘dangerous buildings'
in these areas despite not being able to do anything about them
for years now.
Heritage experts and conservationists said that the plan to build
multi-storey buildings in the Walled City was not only ridiculous,
but completely outdated. Said A G K Menon, urban planner and INTACH
Delhi Chapter convener: "It is a completely ridiculous scheme
that has been discarded by foreign countries and it is unfortunate
that in India we are even discussing it. The proposal resembles
the 1950's American Urban Renewal Scheme and it completely
destroys heritage in the expectation that multi-storey buildings
will create a new image for the Walled City. The scheme has been
tried in the US and Europe and they are regretting it and trying
to conserve whatever heritage they have left."
Added conservation architect: "Shahjanabad is a conservation
area and there is no way under the present Master Plan that multistorey
buildings can be permitted." Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI), meanwhile, chose not to comment on the issue until such
a proposal officially came before them. "There are two protected
structures - Red Fort and Sunehri Masjid - in the
area and we will not allow any construction within the 300 metres
regulated zone of these buildings. Beyond that is not our jurisdiction,"
said a senior ASI official. ASI sources, however, said that since
the Red Fort was a world heritage monument and closely monitored
by Unesco, they would strongly oppose any kind of construction
near this Mughal citadel which could affect the view from any
angle.
In the 1950s, many prominent US cities like
Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, New York and Pittsburg adopted
an urban renewal scheme. They destroyed old parts of their city,
replacing them with multistorey buildings, bridges and freeways.
This was aimed at improving the urban landscape
In Boston, one of USA's oldest cities,
almost a third of the old city was demolished, including the historic
West End, to make way for a new highway, low- and moderate-income
high-rises (which eventually became luxury housing), and new government
and commercial buildings. Later, this was seen as a tragedy by
many residents, urban planners
A similar project was carried out in
Europe and UK but here, many cities had already been destroyed
by the war and infrastructure development had become a necessity.
Today, these countries have a lost a huge chunk of their heritage
in the name of development and the controversial urban renewal
scheme met with great criticism.
Source: The Times of India
