DUAC an aesthetic eye for urban development
About DUAC:
The Delhi Urban Art Commission was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1973 to “advise the Government of India in the matter of preserving, developing and maintaining the aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design within Delhi and to provide advice and guidance to any local body in respect of any project of building operations or engineering operations or any development proposal which affects or is like to affect the skyline or the aesthetic quality of the surroundings or any public amenity provided therein”
Issues:
The major activities of the Commission ranged over many issues. The new Metro lines and the Commonwealth Games projects, and extensions to existing institutions, were examined in the context of the underlying ecology and of historic neighbourhoods.
DUAC has invited agencies with overlapping jurisdiction to discussions for norms about street furniture, and (with the cooperation of the NCT Government) to identify ways to ‘improve’ Shahjahanabad. Pilot projects initiated by DUAC, to serve as templates, include the proposals on Khirkee Village and on Sunheri Bagh, and the work on a Zonal Development Plan for the NDMC.
Kathputli issue:
DDA is likely to submit a revised plan for redevelopment of Kathputli colony after taking suggestions from DUAC. DUAC suggested DDA to rehabilitate the slum dwellers in high-rise development, but DDA said there has to be a system to ensure the habitability of the new complex in the long term by maintaining its mechanical and other systems, such as lifts. DUAC also recommended better utilization of the ground space from an urban design point of view “to achieve better urban profile and better design with lower height for the remunerative part”. DDA is rehabilitating the slum dwellers in situ through a public-private partnership project, the first of its kind in Delhi.
Redevelopment of Pragati Maidan issue:
The proposed Redevelopment plan of Pragati Maidan has Rectangular-shaped exhibition halls connected by travelators, a world-class convention centre with room for 4,000 people, and slip roads and underpasses providing direct connectivity to the complex. But DUAC is of the strong view that the Pragati Maidan complex is not a right place for putting up a convention centre and advised to retain and upgrade the existing iconic buildings. With the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) clearing the change in Pragati Maidan’s land-use plan from ‘district park’ to ‘international convention centre’, the redevelopment plan has moved forward.
