MCD to geo-tag 1,300+ heritage buildings to prevent norm violations

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to geo-tag heritage properties and integrate them with its building plan approval portal to prevent violations of heritage protection norms, senior civic officials said on Tuesday

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to geo-tag heritage properties and integrate them with its building plan approval portal to prevent violations of heritage protection norms, senior civic officials said on Tuesday.

MCD to geo-tag 1,300+ heritage buildings to prevent norm violations

The move follows instances in which building plans for heritage properties in Daryaganj were approved without the necessary clearances, a senior MCD official said. Owners and managers of some heritage properties, however, said the move could further complicate the process of obtaining permission even for basic repairs.

“We are preparing a new standard operating procedure for approving work in heritage buildings. A consultant will be hired to geo-tag all heritage properties notified by the Delhi government. These sites will be integrated with the building plan approval portal so that the system can flag applications involving heritage properties. The heritage conservation committee (HCC) has flagged some instances in which plans were approved without the necessary clearances,” the official said.

With its layered history spanning centuries, Delhi has numerous heritage structures that fall under the jurisdiction of various civic agencies.

The official said the Delhi government’s urban development department had, in February 2010, notified a list of 1,318 heritage sites, including buildings, precincts and natural feature areas, on the advice of the HCC.

The HCC divided the city into eight zones, from A to H, each with its own set of heritage precincts. The structures were classified into three grades based on their relative importance.

A second MCD official said the objective of the exercise was to conserve heritage buildings while preventing unauthorised construction.

“With the rise in land prices in Delhi, it has been observed that people are obtaining building plan approvals to carry out construction on heritage properties in violation of the rules. We have received several complaints of such violations in Old Delhi. These instances went undetected because the properties were not identified as heritage properties on the building plan approval portal. Some property owners managed to obtain approvals by submitting incorrect affidavits. To prevent a recurrence, the MCD is now geo-tagging all notified heritage properties,” the official said.

The geo-tagged properties could also eventually form the basis of a heritage map of the city, the official said.

“The locations of these properties, along with their brief histories and key features, will also be uploaded to create a heritage map of the city. Each entry will include the property’s address, location and key details, while information boards will also be installed at the sites. The data could eventually help people who wish to visit these heritage properties,” the official said.

Property owners and traders, however, said the process of obtaining approvals for work on heritage properties was already cumbersome, even for basic repairs.

Under an earlier heritage marker project, blue plaques were installed at several historic sites, including the Town Hall in Chandni Chowk, Fatehpuri Masjid, Hardayal Municipal Public Library, Kasturba Hospital, Sunehri Masjid and Namak Haram Ki Haveli.

The sites covered by the project date from different periods of Delhi’s history, including the Tughlaq, Lodi, Mughal and late Mughal periods, as well as the early 20th century. The initiative was inspired by London’s blue plaque programme, which began in 1866.