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From: "Architexturez." <interface.services@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:44:49 +0530
Seminar on Master Plan for Delhi
March 31, 2007
India International Centre in association with Delhi Urban Arts Commission.
Attended by eminent planners, architects, historians, administrators and
engineers including (detail list would be available with yourselves)
Charles Correa
Kuldip Singh
EFN Riberio
Narayani Gupta
AGK Menon
AB Lall
Jain
A. K. Jain
Mohd. Shaheer
Mahendra Raj
Vinod Gupta
K. T. Ravindran
Ranjit Sabikhi
Pradeep Sachdeva
Jasbir Sawhney
Rajat Ray
Abhijit Ray
Balbir Verma
Santosh Auluck
SC Gupta
Dinesh Mohan
S. Rao
Geeta Dewan Verma
Mohit Gujral
Rohit Krishan Gulati
Summary of Discussions / Issues Discussed
Current politics has forced the master plan into becoming a negation of
the welfare state due to nature of the government, and particularly
sources of money. The bureaucracy has taken control of all public
institutions which earlier kept checks and balances on public policy.
Thus the government (managed by the bureaucrats) has a free hand in
doing what it feels. (Also see attached note by Romi Khosla)
Architects and urban planners need to reinforce their authority through
platforms of meaning and relevance instead of becoming marginalized. The
DUAC could become one such platform. However it was noted that it has no
role in policy matters except an advisory role.
There is urgent need for architects / planners to take control the
situation to present further deterioration of the city. It was evident
that no such meaningful platform existed. This is evident by the blatant
ignorance of bodies such as Indian Institue of Architects, DUAC, IITP
etc. by the DDA in the Master Planning process for Delhi. Committee
recommendations such as the Tejinder Khanna report have been
incorporated only in a piece meal manner on issues by vested interests.
The master plan by definition admits that it does not recognize most of
the planned /self organized city.
The poor (in terms of quality of living, not necessarily income) are
continuously being marginalized in the garb of making Delhi an
international city hosting international sports events. This
marginalized sector now constitutes majority of the population while
having access to minority of the resources. This has led to several
imbalances.
There is need to reinforce the ‘Street’ character of the cities without
ad-hoc concepts such as setbacks and plot based plans etc. Proper
traffic planning with proper design of streets and squares with
‘elastic’ land use zone regulations needs to be incorporated. Commerce
has to be woven into the use and design of city streets.
New guidelines for increased ground coverage/FSI with additional height
could endanger environmental standards of light & ventilation and should
be re-considered. Issues of increased parking space have also not been
addressed.
The Master Plan needs to be aligned with the 74th amendment of the
Constitution that allows for devolution of powers to the local bodies
(including approval processes) There are opinions that the same is not
enforceable, as the Ministry of Urban Development has not taken due
legal steps in this regard. It needs to be understood how this would
work on a practical basis. An overhaul of the multiple implementation
agencies (Min. of Urban Development, DDA, MCD, NDMC etc.) and
overlapping powers need to be streamlined. Overlap of implementation
agencies & governance in Delhi makes it a difficult process. Local Wards
/Sub Districts should be co-terminus with the implementation bodies.
Zonal/Local plans need to be developed as a basis for future growth. The
issue of who will prepare these zonal / local plans, and on what basis
remains unanswered and holds key to the future at the ground level.
Spatial frameworks for the city need to be developed in an integrated
way while developing the plans for Zonal / Sub Zonal / Ward level layouts.
Mechanisms for constant updating and review of the Master Plan need to
be formalized taking into account professional and credible expertise
alongwith terms of engagement need to be defined incorporating demands
of the city. The monitoring and improvement process needs to be
elaborated upon.
Recent efficiency in the implementation of the Delhi Metro is creditable
and should serve as a benchmark for other agencies. The Metro system
itself was at a very high economic cost compared to other available
systems of mass transit such as dedicated bus corridors, cycle lanes
etc. The Metro is currently working at about 25% of estimated capacity.
These would also be able to reach a much larger population as motorized
private transport is available to only about 55% of the population. The
cost of a motorcycle (i.e Re 1 per km.) becomes the benchmark for fare
calculation and hinders viability of Metro like systems which cannot
compete economically.
The Metro tries to emulate foreign city models where such systems.
However it needs to be understood that these systems were introduced
prior to the1940’s. This is when cars started to become affordable for
families. The rich lived close to the city centers having dense central
business districts. Modern cities do not have CBD and dispersed centers
thus mass transit systems become unsustainable.
Infrastructure needs to be planned much before habitation when costs are
lower making cities more livable.
Transport systems currently being developed / promoted are focusing
primarily on the Motor Car. Local roads need to be pedestrian friendly
in order to improve safety and reduce pollution. Pedestrian planning
needs to be give more importance than to widening of roads for only cars.
Scrutiny of the Master Plan shows that infrastructure norms (Social and
Physical) such as schools, hospitals, electricity, water and sewerage
have been compromised upon. These show that infrastructure shortages &
their quality are likely to continue or deteriorate in the years to come.
Heritage- built and un-built need to be looked after. This includes open
spaces & Historical Buildings and their surrounding populations.
Apart from buildings, there is urgent need to survey and map natural
heritage such as the ridge, water channels and the flood plains of the
R. Yamuna as a tool to prevent further manipulation by vested interests. .
There is a complete lack of transparency and mapped information along
with relevant and current base data on which discussions and union
planning could be done. Most current decisions are made on guess work
and instinct.
The level of Services and Public Health Engineering is deplorable and
needs to and its upgraded and redesigned keeping in view of the aging
systems.
The Master Plan 2021 document should be seen only as a ‘Structure
Document’ as it has no ‘Plans’ to support it.
Performance and operation standards and guidelines need to be
established instead of Technical standards.
Public accountability needs to be established.
There is need for simplification of byelaws & Zonal Plans.
Compiled by
Rohit Krishan Gulati
Architect based in New Delhi
Director at Incubis Consultants (I) PL – a multidisciplinary design firm
April 5, 2007