Can’t have one size fits all approach: DUAC chairman

Even as the debate on Delhi going vertical rages on, Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) chairman Raj Rewal has said policy decisions like these should not be taken in haste. Else, Delhi would end up in the same mess as Gurgaon. Moushumi Das Gupta reports.

Even as the debate on Delhi going vertical rages on, Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) chairman Raj Rewal has said policy decisions like these should not be taken in haste. Else, Delhi would end up in the same mess as Gurgaon.

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In an interview to HT, Rewal said there was a need for detailed study of all areas before deciding on whether high rises should be allowed in the city. “We can’t have a sweeping policy to have high-rises all over Delhi . It has to be site-specific. We have the means to visualise and consider different options and we must do that before taking any rash decisions,” he said.

The DUAC chief emphasised that before giving the green signal to high-rises, policy makers will have to ensure the city has the required physical infrastructure to support them. “Otherwise we will be in the same mess up as Gurgaon. A 20-30 storey high rise without supporting infrastructure is not a feasible solution,” Rewal told HT.

It was urban development minister Kamal Nath who had recently kicked off the debate on the issue. Chief minister Sheila Dikshit, however, expressed her reservations about the idea, kicking off a row.

DUAC chairman is batting for low-rise high density development in the outskirts of the city and newly developed areas, but only after detailed study. “You can’t have a one-size fits-all approach. We have to maintain the character of Delhi and its ambience,” he said.

DDA chairman GS Patnaik too has expressed his reservations about the city going vertical. “Only high-rises wouldn’t realise the problems of Delhi . But remaining all sprawled is not a solution either,” he told HT. “The Master Plan will see what building heights can be allowed in which kinds of areas depending on their infrastructure,” he added.

with inputs from Sidhartha Roy