Heritage body seeks report on KG Marg parking

The fate of the multi-level parking lot on KG Marg will be decided by a heritage impact assessment report.

The fate of the multi-level parking lot on KG Marg will be decided by a heritage impact assessment report.

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The parking project, which lies within 300 metres of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected Ugrasen Ki Baoli, has been pending since 2010. With a planned capacity of 1,500 vehicles, the lot has been touted as essential to take off load from Connaught Place roads.

The National Monument Authority (NMA) has decided to ask the company, which will execute the project, to come up with the heritage impact assessment of the big infrastructure project.

In 2010, the ASI had slapped a stop work notice on the project after an amendment in the act, which mandates permission from the NMA for any construction within 101-300 metres of a protected monument. The 600-year-old Baoli, a step well, shows the traditional method of harvesting rainwater through ground recharge.

“NMA members felt that an assessment needs to be done in view of the heritage structure in the vicinity. Whether or not the increased number of vehicles will affect the heritage ambience of the Ugrasen Ki Baoli, what impact the digging for construction will have on the water table of the area - all such things need to be studied,” said a member, who attended the meeting.

Once the minutes of the meeting are finalised, the NMA will write to the company to get the ‘heritage impact assessment’ done for the project, said a senior NMA official.

The Delhi state level competent authority had cleared the proposal last year, but it is still pending at the NMA level.