CDP-II: Will it set course for creating heritage of planned development?

By Kartik Lokhande

What is a heritage? A structure? A dilapidated building? A neglected remain of inheritance? Or, something more than all these put together? If it is something more than these, is it anti-development in nature? Is it correct to portray ‘Heritage Vs Development’? Can’t heritage and development go hand-in-hand? Does the city’s heritage come in the way of City Development Plan (CDP)?
These are the questions to which proper answers need to be given while Nagpur prepares for CDP-II. Often, it is projected that heritage is something that goes against the principles of development. However, if one thinks scientifically and correctly, one finds that sustainable development of today is a heritage for tomorrow. In Bombay as well as Nagpur, half of the notified heritage structures are Government properties. Many of the remaining half of notified heritage structures/features are temples.
As per the list published by State Government in 2000, there are only 155 heritage structures/features in Nagpur city. Considering the huge expanse of the city, one really wonders if 155 structures can really block development of the entire city? Besides, development and heritage can go hand-in-hand provided a proper thought is given. For instance, in the premises of Old Secretariat building (a notified heritage), recently a new building of Zilla Parishad came up. The ZP building has come up in harmony with the Old Secretariat building. Thus, it retained the character of the premises. And, nobody opposed the construction of ZP building in the name of heritage conservation.
Still, the confusion persists as deeper thought is not given to the concepts of heritage as well as development both. And, a result of this confusion is seen in the presentation made by Crisil Risk and Infrastructure Solutions Limited (CRIS) during its CDP workshop conducted in December 2013.
The 44-page presentation of CRIS had only one page on heritage. That page had photographs of Deekshabhoomi, Dragon Palace Temple, Zero Mile etc and only a few vague lines. These sentences were: “Nagpur’s history dates back to 5,000 years. There are monuments, historical sites, temples, and other modern-day structures. Mostly all the historical monuments are managed and protected by Archaeological Survey of India. There are various tourist attractions in and around Nagpur making it a tourist destination. There are places like Deekshabhoomi, and Dragon Temple which are visited by more than thousands of people annually.” The consultant agency’s entire thought on the concept of heritage in city development ended there.

An aerial photograph of Mahal area shows Gandhi Sagar lake distinctively. It is one of the listed heritage features of Nagpur city. Mahal area is home to 35 out of total 155 heritage structures, precincts, features notified by State Government. The planners of old city had given a deeper thought to sustainable development. Hence, many of the structures they created then, are heritage today. The present-day city fathers and planners need to take a leaf out of that while preparing CDP-II.  (A file photo by Anil Futane)

Then, what is a heritage? In simple terms, what one inherits is a heritage. To understand the concept properly, one has to refer to the Government publication dated February 21, 2000. The notification is titled ‘Regulations for Conservation of Heritage Buildings/Precincts/Natural Features’, popularly known as Heritage Conservation Regulations. The applicability part of the notification makes it clear as to what constitutes a heritage. It states, “These regulations will apply to those buildings, artefacts, structures, areas and precincts of historic and/or architectural and/or cultural significance... and those natural features of environmental significance including sacred groves, hillocks, water bodies (and the areas adjoining the same), open areas, wooden areas, etc which are listed in a notification issued by State Government.”
Thus, the term ‘heritage’ does not refer only to a constructed building of historical importance, but it refers to artefacts, structures, precincts, water bodies, hillocks, groves, open areas etc. In case of Nagpur, which got its Heritage Regulations even before national capital Delhi, the State Government has notified 155 buildings/features. But, the regulations do not block development of the city in the name of heritage conservation. In fact, the regulations provide for development, re-development, engineering operations, additions, alterations, repairs, renovation, etc. However, the laid-down procedure has to be followed for the purpose. Municipal Commissioner has been empowered to grant permission for these activities after seeking advice from Heritage Conservation Committee. Municipal Commissioner has also been empowered to ‘overrule’ the advice of the committee ‘in exceptional cases’ citing reasons in writing.
The said regulations also provide for modification in the list of heritage buildings, precincts, listed natural features; alter, modify or relax Development Plan and Development Control Regulations; grant transferable development rights in cases of loss of development rights; incentive uses for heritage buildings. The regulations also provide guidance on ‘scope for development’. Municipal Commissioner has been entrusted with the task of framing special ‘separate’ regulations for heritage precincts, publishing the draft of the same in Official Gazetter and in leading newspapers, inviting suggestions/objections, considering those, and submitting the revised draft regulations to the Government for sanction.
Though there are regulations, what has happened on ground? “In spite of an early start, the efforts at conserving the heritage of the listed structures in Nagpur as per basic principles guiding the preservation and restoration of heritage buildings is dismal,” says Paramjit Singh Ahuja, Chairman of Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) Nagpur Centre. He laments that no ‘separate’ regulations have been framed so far for heritage precincts.
For want of regulations, there is no mechanism to check violations in cases of heritage precincts. Constructions have come up along water bodies, on spaces created by destroying parts of hillocks and groves, modifications have been carried out wantonly destroying the lasting elements of various heritage structures. More seriously, despite passage of over 13 years since notification of Heritage Conservation Regulations, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has not yet constituted a Heritage Conservation Fund, reveals Ahuja. Further, despite provision for regular meetings of the Heritage Conservation Committee, the list of heritage structures has not been revised. Not a single heritage structure has been added in list, he says.
The heritage structures are closely linked to city’s development, but they are not seen on Development Plan (DP) map. To conserve the heritage structures, they are to be marked in DP map, stresses Ahuja. The heritage regulations for Nagpur have been sanctioned as DC Rule No 34 of the sanctioned Development Control Rules (CDR) of Nagpur city. “They override other existing DCR, where it is necessary for the protection of heritage buildings, sites and natural features. However, till date they have not been incorporated in Nagpur DP and the procedures by which they will be implemented have not been formulated. All extracts of DP should contain markings of heritage structures,” he observes. In fact, he adds, considering the inclusion of metro region as an extension to city’s development, Heritage Regulations should be extended to Nagpur Metropolitan Area also.
In Ahuja’s opinion, Mahal and Civil Lines areas should be declared as Heritage Zones. Mahal is home to 35 out of 155 structures notified by the State Government. Town Hall, temples/temple complexes, ceremonial gates, bungalows/wadas, Kotwali, Chhatries, mosques, and schools are in Mahal. Considering a large number of listed heritage structures in Civil Lines and its character (low rise skylines, building typology, large plots, etc), Civil Lines should be declared a Heritage Zone. Special Heritage Regulations should be framed for Mahal and Civil Lines. A Detailed Project Report (DPR) for development of Mahal and Civil Lines as Heritage Zones should be prepared under JNNURM.
Central Government has realised the importance of heritage conservation in preparing CDP-II and hence it has included the element into revised toolkit published in April 2013. The toolkit takes the concept a notch higher and talks of ‘urban heritage’ and incorporation of ‘Heritage Management Plan’ in CDP-II. As per the toolkit, ‘urban heritage’ comprises ‘not only archaeological sites, remains, ruins, and monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) but also the natural and man-made water systems, ghats, ponds, tanks, and water harvesting systems, street patterns, pathways, bazars, and chowks, private and public buildings, gates and walls, bird-feeders and statues, parks and gardens, temples, mosques, and churches, sacred geography underlying its physical fabric and relates pilgrimage ways and congregation places etc’.
The JNNURM toolkit also talks of various priorities. These include conservation plans for heritage zones and Grade-I monuments/precincts, physical restoration, maintenance, adaptive re-use, restoration of public places like parks and gardens, implementing awareness programmes, documentation and listing of ‘heritage assets’, condition assessment, grading of heritage values, identification of heritage zones, defining the importance of heritage outlining vision and policies, legal and statutory framework, identifying institutional set-up, and heritage-based industries.
Before going ahead with this, city fathers and administrators and planners first have to set the boundaries of heritage structures/precincts/features. The logical steps to be followed are assessment of urban heritage, preparation of conservation plan, incorporating the areas left out till date (separate regulations for precincts, separate fund etc), developing infrastructure at heritage sites to convert those into tourist attractions, devising investment and financing plans etc.
As far as NMC is concerned, it has neither constituted Heritage Conservation Fund nor framed separate regulations for heritage precincts, but it has ‘prepared’ a plan for having ‘London Street’ in the city. The idea, as the city fathers had stated a few years ago, was to give a different look to the city. The roots of the idea are in look that London has got with its conservation heritage and its linking with urban planning. The JNNURM revised toolkit for CDP-II also talks of ‘street patterns’ and ‘views to and from the city’. As the NMC’s vision on city development and heritage both has not been clear, the project of ‘London Street’ has proved to be a non-starter so far. Instead of giving an artificial look of a foreign city to a part of Nagpur, if city’s own heritage is conserved and blended with urban planning, various parts of the city will automatically get transformed into models to be followed elsewhere.