स्थानीय क्षेत्र योजना

यह बड़े आश्चर्य की बात है कि जन सुचना तो हिंदी में प्रकाशित की गयी पर  नगर निगम के नगर नियोजन विभाग के दफ्तर में लगे नक्शों में अंग्रेजी में लिखा हुआ था. वह सहायक नगर नियोजक ही कुछ जानकारियां दे रहे थे. जिन नगर सलाहकारों ने नक्सें बनाये थें उनका कोई भी प्रतिनिधि वहा नहीं था जिससे की और ज्यादा और बेहतर जानकारी पायीं जा सकती थी. जैसा की जन सुचना में वर्णित था कि नगर निगम के कार्यं के स्वागत कक्ष में अन्य जानकारिय व् नक़्शे मौजूद होंगे पर वैसा नहीं था. स्थानीय क्षेत्र योजना बन गया पर बहुत से लोगों को यह पता भी नहीं चला. स्थानीय लोगो को इस जोयना सम्बंधित सुझाव के लिए कोई विशेष प्रबंध नहीं किया गया. नक्शें के अलावा कोई भी दस्तावेज लोगो को देखने व् समझने के लिए नहीं रखा गया हुआ था. आप के इन्टरनेट पे लिखे नोटिस में यह कहा गया है कि यह  नवीनीकृत प्लान पर्दार्शिक दस्तावेज होगा पर अभी तो आप केवल नक्सा ही दिखा रहे है वो भी उन्हें जो जागरूक है और नगर निगम ऑफिस आने में सक्षम है. क्या आप ने उन दूर दराज के लोगों (जैसे नरेला)  के बारे में नहीं सोचा कि वे कैसे इस जन भागीदारी वाले प्रक्रिया में शामिल हो पाएंगे.

किसी भी योजना में लोगों कि भागीदारी के लिए चार स्तर होतें है. जो कि निम्लिखित है.

  1. सुचना
  2. विचार विमर्श
  3. विश्लेषण व् समस्या का निदान
  1. प्रभाव अवं असर

जब जन भागीदारी कि प्रथम कड़ी या स्टार पर ही लोग भाग नहीं ले पाएंगे तो क्या लगता है आपको की आने वाले आगले स्तर में लोग कैसे भाग लेना चाहेंगे. आधार नक्सा बनाने के समय भी नगर पार्षदों की सहमती लेना था पर आगामी नगर निगम के चुनाव के कारन स्थगित कर दिया गया. सह्भागिदारों की भी विचार विमर्श होने का प्रावधान था पर कुछ नगर सलाहकार ही इस प्रकिया को  कराया था. बाकि ने नगर निगम की चुनाव की संवेदनशीलता देखते हुए इसे स्थगित कर दिया.

जन भागीदारी की प्रक्रिया में यूँ ही बाधाएं आएँगी तो ये जन भागीदारी की प्रकिया क्या कभी सफल हो पाएंगी?

शशिकांत निशांत शर्मा

Public Purpose and Government Land

Land is a scarce resource and its use and utilisation is highly controlled and steered by the land market which is growing at leaps and bounds. There is already shortage of land in many cities for providing social infrastructure for the residents. Many a time the upgradation and widening of roads is avoided due to unavailability of public land. In many of the Indian cities there is shortage of green infrastructure and system of open spaces for healthy living. Public land is public property and its uses must serve the wider public and public interest.

Keeping in view the above inadequacies of land, the act of the so called guardian of the state like former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh allotting about 20 acres of prime land in Goregaon to a private company for a paltry sum of money;the Madhya Pradesh government giving 20 acres in Bhopal district to the Kushabhau Thakre Memorial Trust in 2006 for a RS 1 as meagre annual lease rent; Left Front government in West Bengal allotting land to Sourav Ganguly for opening school; must be criticised.

Thanks to strong and impartial judiciary system of India that such cases have been properly dealt with.

The problem does not end here. We have to devise a fool proof mechanism of defining public purpose and guidelines for disposal of government land for any form of physical development.

The government land records should be made available in the public domain so that the land is monitored and there is transparency in the disposal and use of the land. A national database for land records can be created and each state must maintain the online updated records of the land especially the government land.

This type of transparent system of information sharing will expose any form of favouritism observed by anybody in power and there such be penalty like barring the person from holding public office in future.

Delhi: The City of Heritage

Delhi is a living legendary city of India. It has been the capital of many kingdom from ancient Mahabharata Period to Modern era. It has evolved and adjusted to the varying needs of people of different times and stood a testimony to time.

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Every ruler added sometimes in the charms and beauty of Delhi. If you take time and visit Delhi you can see the remains of seven genre of Delhi. When I was in my home town or earlier at village I used to see the beauty and splendor of Delhi in books and on Doordarshan. But now when I am living in Delhi sometimes  while walking on the streets of Delhi I feel the unfolding pages of history and glimpses of Ancient, Medieval and Modern time coming in view occasionally and in some areas frequently when you visit such places like Chandni Chowk, the narrow lanes of Jama Masjid areas. The efforts of Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi Development Authority, Delhi Urban Arts Commission and Municipal Corporation are really commendable for their integrated efforts in preserving the rich cultural and architectural heritage and praiseworthy attempts to keep apace with the requirement of development and economic progress. There are many development projects going on in the city. Sometimes to make space for new development and accommodation of increased needs and requirements lead to necessity of redevelopment. And here comes the responsibility and rational decision making by the public authority. The various redevelopment and renewal programs should be guided by values that value addition should not lead to value reduction or neutralization of the rich cultural and architectural heritage of India present in Delhi.

Myths and Facts of Local Area Plan

Delhi is a big city-state whose most of the area has got urbanized or some are under urbanization process. In spite of various provisions, guidelines, norms and development controls; city has overrun the projected development potential and planned growth pattern giving rise to many problems. To address the ground realities Municipal Corporation of Delhi initiated projects of preparation of Local Area Plan for 36 wards through different consultants. It should be noted that Delhi is one of the India city to have a Master Plan and Zonal Plans for guiding and controlling the urban growth and development. If you ever visit Delhi you will wonder how the city has evolved over a long time and still claim for status of heritage city as the city planners and policy makers has ensures the conservation and promotion of its rich cultural and architectural heritage. Delhi has very well working Development Authority which has played a great role in giving Delhi a planned growth pattern.

To materialize the provisions of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act and to ensure decentralization of planning is empower local people to take action and participate in various stages of plan preparation and plan implementation.

Decentralization can be perceived as a process with of devolution of power, responsibilities, functions and finances to the local bodies. The primary objective of decentralization programs is to improve resource allocation and service delivery by bringing decision making process closer to the citizens. Participatory planning is part of the decentralization process and it aims to identify the critical problems, joint priorities, and adoption of various socio‐economic development strategies for the development and welfare of the community. As stated by Olthelen (1999), participatory planning is the initial step in the definition of a common agenda for development by a local community and an external entity or entities. Over the period, this initial step is expected to evolve for the parties concerned towards a self‐sustaining development planning process at the local level.

After working with two consultants preparing the Local Area Plan till second stage, I felt there is almost no public participation in the plan making process which I do think is good for any effective plan making process. The people for whom plan is being prepared must be included in plan making and implementation process only then planning can achieve its desired outcome. There should be clear cut guideline for consultants to ensure public participation which they should not bypass to make plan making an authoritarian action which is missing in the guidelines and various documents issued in this regards through Delhi Development Authority and Municipal Corporation of Delhi except for the customary objections and suggestions after the draft plan is prepared.

There are many differences in the plans prepared by the different consultants in spite of some attempts to universalize the legend; the legends used by different consultants are still different for the Local Area Plans which is basic for effective and easy interpretation of any plan.

There is no special act or regulation which ensures the preparation of Local Area Plan and Master Plan of Delhi, 2021 vaguely says that local municipal body can make local area plan for a ward.

There is no specification of period for which a local area plan will be prepared and revised which means which may result in a planning exercise having no impact on ground reality but only in the academic field.

The planning boundaries of Local Area Plans are the existing municipal boundaries and have no or little conformity with the Zonal Plan boundaries already prepared and implemented. You might know that the municipal boundaries keep on changing to account for increase in population and creation of new wards according to population above the permissible limit decided by the Election Commission.

The pilot project taken up by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is quite judicious and they have selected sample wards containing the old walled city, well planned colonies, squatter settlements, fringe areas, resettlement colonies, regularized and to be regularized say the notified colonies. This selection will result in the identification of threats, opportunities, strength, weakness, problems, issues and potential of the areas under study and which are representative in nature of different parts of Delhi and the Local Area Plan preparation project will result in good database for further plan preparation and implementation of Local Area Plans.

The engagement of different consultants of Delhi will give valuable inputs for the intellectual and professional ideas in framing the proposals for different Local Areas Plans dealing with different nature of settlements spread across Delhi.

Delhi is a role model and trend settler in Urban Planning for India and the successful preparation and implementation will guide many small and large towns to adopt this planning model mainly engaging the elected urban local bodies and the people of the town or city. This will surely help in popularizing and fructifying the concept of effective participatory planning and ultimately decentralization of planning.

In spite for many drawbacks existing or perceived the preparation of Local Area Plan is going to revolutionize the planning and implementation in India.

Shashikant Nishant Sharma

4.6 References and Bibliography

Thomas, Kurian (2003) “Kerala” in Inter‐State Study on Rural Decentralisation, Project Report, Vinod Vyasulu and team, Centre for Good Governance Hyderabad: 70‐87

Oltheten. Theo M.P.    (1999). Participatory Approaches to planning for Community Forestry, A synthesis report, Forests, Trees and People Programme, Forestry Department Working Paper No. 2.

Isaac, Thomas, T M, with Richard Franke (2000): Local Democracy and Development: People’s Campaign for Decentralised Planning in Kerala, Leftword, New Delhi.

Prepared by Delhi Development Authority and approved by the Central Government under Section 11A(2) of Delhi Development Act 1957 and notified on 7th February 2007, Master Plan for Delhi, 2021

{Originally Published in NOSPLAN annual Magazine of Student of Planning in year January, 2012.}

Purana Qila: Most Visited Place in Delhi

Indraprastha, the original city of Delhi was supposed to be constructed where now exists the Purana Qila. The Afghan ruler, Sher Shah, who briefly interrupted the Mughal Empire by defeating Humayun, completed the fort during his reign from 1538-45.

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Pandavas had built their capital, Indraprastha at the place where the old fort stands today. This fort, now in ruins, was the seat for administration for many emperors. The legendary Prithviraj Chauhan ruled from here till he was defeated by Abdali in the battle of Panipat.

The fort is located south-east of the India Gate and north of Humayun’s Tomb and the Nizamuddin railway station. It has massive walls and three large gateways. There is a small octagonal red sandstone tower, the Sher Mandal, in side the fort near the South gate. It was later used by Humayun as a library. While descending the stairs of this tower one day in 1556, Humayun slipped, fell and received injuries from which he later died. The Qila-i-Kuhran Mosque, or Mosque of Sher Shah, lies just beyond it and is in a fairly reasonable condition.

A nice place to visit while visiting Delhi. In evening you will find the place very appealing. You can see the transformation of Delhi from the ramparts of the Qila. There is a small archaeological museum just inside the main gate. A new light & sound show is held by the Department of Delhi Tourism every evening. Timings and Tickets are available from the tourist office.

Unauthorised and Unregularised Colonies

The regularization of Unauthorised colonies has become a vote bank strategy for the political parties but my concern is that why so many new unauthorized colonies are cropping up, isn’t it the failure of planning and development monitoring at city level. My opinion to solve such issues lies in making plan approval and service delivery speedier than it is today. In this age of advance satellite technology and GIS technology development and urban sprawl can be easily monitored and checked. I don’t know the exact data but can say from recent news and discussions that DDA has notified  a large chunk of land for development in Delhi and whether for profit making or lack of resources DDA has been unable to provide developed land at the required pace of development taking place in Delhi and NCR. I can’t suggest drastic measures like denotifying all such land suitable for development but I would rather like DDA and MCD to work out some plan for engaging the private developers for developing the existing land before they get developed by the people the way they like and mess up the whole fabric of Delhi which has many heritages to boast of and most rapid growing urban centre in the world. Sometimes action taken in haste goes waste but inaction lead to reaction which is evident in the mushrooming of unauthorised colonies in Delhi or better say the NCR.

All human settlements whether urban or rural have a major chunk of land use as residential. Land Use Planning, a planning technique tries to create a balance between different land uses and conflicting land uses. Unauthorised and unregularised colonies constitute a reasonable part of residential land use which must be dealt with to improve the overall condition of an area. Read more about Land use planning in India

Know About Cities of India- Bhopal City

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The report is based on the evolution of Bhopal and the main aspects being covered are related to the Transportation system of Bhopal which links the city in a way making it easily accessible from every nook and corner and also the Environment which was affected by the Gas Tragedy which took place long time ago but till now has its adverse impact on the city.

 

 

 

History of Bhopal is one of the oldest in India and this city has a glorious past. The history of Bhopal narrates tales of interesting, heroic and amazing incidents. Bhopal takes pride in its excellent blend of Islamic and Hindu cultures. Various dynasties have ruled the city over the years, contributing to its architectural and historical richness.

The history of Bhopal starts with its foundation by the Parmara King Bhoj (1000-1055), who had his capital at Dhar. The city was initially known as Bhopal named after Bhoj and the dam (`pal`) that he is said to have constructed to form the lakes bounding Bhopal. The fortunes of Bhopal rose and fell with that of its reigning dynasty. As the Parmaras declined in power, the city was destroyed several times and finally faded away into obscurity.

 

Physical Features

Bhopal has an average elevation of 499 metres (1637 ft). Bhopal is located in the central part of India, and is just north of the upper limit of the Vindhya mountain ranges. Located on the Malwa plateau, it is higher than the north Indian plains and the land rises towards the Vindhya Range to the south. The city has uneven elevation and has small hills within its boundaries. The major hills in Bhopal comprise of Idgah hills and Shyamala hills in the northern region and Arera hills in the central region.

It has two very beautiful big lakes, collectively known as the Bhoj Wetland . These lakes are the Upper Lake (built by King Bhoj) and the Lower Lake. The catchment area of the Upper Lake is 361 km² while that of the Lower Lake is 9.6 km². The Upper Lake drains into the Kolar River. The Van Vihar National Park is a national park situated besides the Upper Lake.

Climate

Bhopal has a humid subtropical climate, with mild, dry winters, a hot summer and a humid monsoon season. Summers start in late March and go on till mid-June, the average temperature being around 30 °C (86 °F), with the peak of summer in May, when the highs regularly exceed 40 °C (104 °F). The monsoon starts in late June and ends in late September. The average temperature is around 25 °C (77 °F) and the humidity is quite high. Temperatures rise again up to late October when winter starts, which lasts up to early March. Winters in Bhopal are mild, sunny and dry, with average temperatures around 18 °C (64 °F) and little or no rain. The winter peaks in January when temperatures may drop close to freezing on some nights. Total annual rainfall is about 1146 mm (46 inches).

Transportation

Local Transport

Bhopal has been a railroad and highway transportation hub for a long time. Bhopal has its own city bus service: Bhopal City Link Limited(currently stopped), which operates larger Star Buses, which are under GPS navigation and smaller Metro Buses. In addition, around 600 mini-buses are run by private operators. Metro or Radio Taxis and auto-rickshaws are another major means of transport. In some parts in the old as well as new city, the new Tata Magic Vans are running successfully and have replaced the older and bigger diesel rickshaws — known as “Bhat”.

Bhopal is also implementing a “Bus Rapid Transit System”, projected to become functional from the year 2011.

Roadways

Apart from the long distance services, there are many services to nearby places within the state. The bus services are operated from 8 major bus stands in the city:

  • ISBT Terminal, Kasturba Nagar (to be functional from 2010)

  • Naadra Bus Stand, Old City

  • Jawahar Chowk Stand

  • Halalpura Bus Stand

  • Bharat Talkies Stand

  • Jyaneshwari Bus Stand, South

  • Piplani Bus Stand, East

  • Ayodhya Nagar Bus Stand

National Highway 12 passes through Bhopal which connects it to Jabalpur in the East and Jaipur in the West. National Highway 86 connects Bhopal to Sagar in the East to Dewas in the West. State Highway 17 connects the city with Indore. There are number of daily buses to Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khajuraho, Sanchi, Pachmarhi, Vidisha, and as well to Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Kota, Nagpur, Jaipur, Agra, and Allahabad. An interstate bus terminus is near the Habibganj station.

Metro Train

On April 21, 2010, a panel was set up for Bhopal Metro Rail.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will carry out a survey to explore the possibility of running metro rail service in the city and will give a feasibility report soon to Madhya Pradesh Urban Administration Department (MPUAD).

The DMRC will complete the survey in six months for which it has received an amount of Rs 50 lakhs.

Railways

Bhopal lies in the West Central Railway Zone. Considering both North-South and East-West train routes, it is one of the best-connected city in India. Following are the railway stations in Bhopal:

  • Bhopal Junction Railway Station is the largest and most important railway station in the city. Being on the main North-South line, it is connected by rail to all parts of the country except North-Eastern states. More than 150 daily trains have stoppages in Bhopal.

  • Habibganj Railway Station is a major and the most developed station of Bhopal. It holds the distinction of being the first ISO 9000:2001 certified railway station in India.

  • Misrod Railway Station is located in the Misrod suburb of the city.

  • Mandideep Railway Station is located in the industrial town of Mandideep.

  • Sukhsewanagar

  • Bairagarhis located in the north-western Bairagarh suburb.

  • Nishatpura railway station

Airport

The Raja Bhoj Airport is located near the satellite suburb Bairagarh and has flights to most major cities in India. Expansion of the airport is underway to convert it into an international airport.

There are three routes ways to reach the airport:

(1) Via Bairagarh,

(2) Via Panchvati,

(3) Via Mahavir Tekri (also known as Manuabhaan Ki Tekri).

Demographics

According to the 2001 census the total Bhopal population is about 1,458,416.

The population consists of 71% Hindus and 24% Muslims, with the rest of the population including Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and, Buddhists.

The Old City of Bhopal is a predominantly conservative but New Bhopal is a demographically cosmopolitan area.

The chief languages are Hindi/Urdu (Hindustani) and English, but there are a substantial number of Marathi, Sindhi, Marwari speakers as well.

Places of interest

A few of the places of interest in Bhopal include

  • Upper Lake : The largest artificial lake in Asia.

  • Lake View : A stretch of road on the shore of the great or Upper Lake. It is a popular joint for people of all age groups, especially young. The road continues into Van Vihar National Park. The Boat Club is also located here and the club organizes national level water sporting events.

  • Van Vihar National Park : A zoological park with the status of a national park, it is situated south of the Upper Lake.

  • New Market : A shopping and commercial zone in the city housing a number of eateries, restaurants, cloth shops and showrooms, bakeries, mobile stores etc.

  • Taj-ul-Masjid : It is one of the largest mosque in Asia and is also used as a madrasah

  • Aquarium Building

  • Bharat Bhawan

  • Lal Parade Ground: The Independence Day and republic day parade are held in this ground. It is also the venue of large gatherings.

  • Museum of Natural History

  • Manbhawan ki tekri : A Jain temple, situated on a hill cliff, this place is popular for the scenic views it offers of the city below. A rope-way has been installed and people also have the option to reach the spot on foot.

  • Libraries :A number of libraries are operational including the regional library and Swami Vivekananda Library (formerly British Library)

Bhopal disaster

On December 3, 1984, a Union Carbide Corporation pesticide plant in Bhopal leaked around 32 tons of toxic gases, including methyl isocyanine gas which led to the worst industrial disaster to date. The official death toll was initially recorded around 5,000. Many figures suggest that 18,000 died within two weeks, and it is estimated that around 8,000 have died since then of gas-poisoning-related diseases. The Greenpeace organization cites a total casualty figure of 20,000 as its own conservative estimate. The Bhopal disaster is often cited as the world’s worst industrial disaster. December 3 is annually observed as the official day of mourning, and every year, all government offices in Bhopal remain closed on this day.

Impacts of the tragedy

The two ICMR projects on histopathology and toxicology have more than fulfilled the initial hopes and expectations. The sequence of pathological changes in the acute, sub-acute and chronic stages has been clearly delineated. Structurally, continuing respiratory impairment in a proportion of cases resulted in progressive pulmonary damage, including desquamate pneumonitis, fibroins alveoli is, or its variants, like DIPF and GIPF.

Mall Culture in Delhi-NCR

Mall Culture in Delhi-NCR
Mall Culture in Delhi-NCR

With the upbeat of malls in the market these days, generation next has found a new excuse to hangout. This increase in the so called, mall culture to our country about a decade ago and since then the capital has no corner left for any more malls. This also has fascinated as well as invited the architects to participate in the hullabaloo, and rightly so, as there are so many functions associated with it.

Overall all these malls have no relationship with the environment outside as they work on the principal with creating a micro-climate inside those gigantic boxes of steel and concrete. We hardly get to see the treatment given to the exterior of these malls as compared to the interiors. But still very little but pleasantly these portions of buildings are given a little thought as they really do attract the masses.

The `metropolitan mall’ at Gurgaon near Delhi. The external façade of this mall is totally covered with huge glow-sign boards of various products. This is just a part of their strategy to attract the consumers through these medium. Also, various kinds of lighting fixtures along the pavement to compliment the building. Although the building is quite transparent as far as the visual connection from the road is concerned as there are no boundary walls present. Still the low height foliage and the pavement separated it from the road. Also, there is no segregation of pedestrian and vehicular pathways.Only, locally available Delhi quartzite stone are laid in a radial pattern.

METROPOLITAN MALL, Gurgaon, Delhi-NCR

INTRODUCTION

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In Delhi, the technological, economic, socio-cultural and post-industrial consumption has transformed the city almost as much as industrial production did .While a huge retail demand still exists for commercial space of yesteryears, there is a huge call for modern serviced facilities, especially in the new sub-urban areas, such as Noida, Gurgaon, Rohini, etc. In the view of the above, morphogenesis architecture studios, entrusted with the design of the first large format shopping mall in northern India.

clip_image004 In the words of architect, “…..It was very important to design it as a family destination point. Enough value addition had to be done for it to offer more than addition had to be done for it to offer more than existing in terms of retail design and entertainment.

BUILT FORM

clip_image006clip_image008 While it was functional necessity to design a hermetically sealed box, Morphogenesis also did not wish to establish the typical American Typology, American Malls are almost mini cities. As the 450,000 sq ft hermitically sealed is not designed as short term, pedestrian access space automatically subverts the high street design where retail space overlaps a transition space, it automatically subverts the high streets.

To introduce complexity two strategies are employed, one was creating a system of programmatic overlapping and intersection versus typical clusters resulting out of bubble diagram architecture. Second was designing a mall which was just not the stack of shops fitted in the building, but more like an enclosed Indian street system .It was seen as a space where in a climate of retail strategy, along with methodological creation of ideal, a setting of opportunistic exploitation of fluke accident and transformation must be credited -The hang out space.

 

 

 

4.5 Parking

 It has now been established that the real challenge for the designer lies in handling the two most important ingredients of a marketplace – the shopper and the vehicle. The movement of both can be cannot be separated or mixed before solving the aspect of parking.

With the people came their automobiles. As the area was not designed to handle such a large number of shoppers, the problem of providing space to these vehicles arose. This problem has not been solved till date. Parking is one of the significant factors that deter shoppers from going to main markets and favors suburban shopping places. Another aspect is the level of interaction of people in the market.

Parking space needs to be as close as possible to the pavement on the main approach road otherwise people tend to park elsewhere leaving the parking vacant.. Provision of adequate parking space is another is another important issue otherwise people tend to park haphazardly in any space, thus, making the environment chaotic. E.g. Lajpat Nagar An excellent example of a well designed hierarchy of pedestrian and parking is Shoppers Stop where the shopping complex, pedestrian street & parking form separate zones and the main road is beyond all these thus isolating the shopper from the road traffic.

A very common flaw in design is to be greeted by a sea of cars. Further, in a country like India any amount of parking space will fall short in a period of time so it is very important to improve and encourage public transport to the shopping centres.

Planned Capital Cities of India: Chandigarh and Gandhi Nagar

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