Urban planners, environmentalists talk about issues facing projects in south Delhi

Noted urban planners, environmentalists and activists in the city highlighted various problems faced by infrastructure projects undertaken in south Delhi at a panel discussion at the Indian Social Institute on Sunday.

“It is not a real choice that you have to cut trees to make buildings,” said Moulshri Joshi, professor at the School of Planning and Architecture.

“We have always worked on the relationship between the two, to arrive at a ‘place of shade’,” she said.

‘Not just housing’

Kanchi Kohli, researcher at the Centre for Policy Research pointed out that the projects at Sarojini Nagar, East Kidwai Nagar and Nauroji Nagar are not only for housing purpose, but also includes up to 8 lakh sqm of commercialised area, including a world trade centre.

“Traffic assessment is being carried out only now. No air quality assessment was done either,” she said.

Former member of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission, architect K.T. Ravindran said, “The commission’s mandate is: environment, development and heritage. All the three times these projects were taken to the commission, it was approved. How did this happen?” Environmentalist Pradip Krishen rubbished plans of compensatory plantation, saying it was a hoax.

Highlighting the changes made in East Kidwai Nagar projects, Dunu Roy, an activist with the Hazard Centre, said that earlier the projects were for lower-level employees, but later, larger housing complexes for secretary-level employees replaced these.

The panellists also spoke on the importance of public involvement in planning, especially in light of the Delhi Master Plan 2040, which is expected to be formulated in two years, as a way forward.