We design our buildings, and later they design us
(Winston Churchill )
In
wake of recent Charminar fire accident, we need to relook at the urban outlook
of the spaces we live in, the building is said to be about a century old, with
growing demands for land and growing population these old buildings lose their
relevance and what was once a beautiful living space might today become a
lethal structure which might not harbor safe standards in case of emergencies. Like in this building in the Gulzar House area, which is a 3-story
building. What was once a spacious building has now become an unsafe building.
One of the witnesses said that he could not enter the building because of
structural difficulties, and that he and another compliance officer took 30 minutes to
break through the wall on the second floor. If the building had been renovated and designed differently, maybe we could have saved the 8 innocent lives who were about to
blossom. But this incident has raised a very pertinent question regarding urban living spaces.
In the wake of this attack, we now know that there are certain structures in various
places of India which are ready for any accident, the old Kalta Market of
Jaipur, the old buildings of Rajendra Nagar in New Delhi, and some residential
places near famous tourist places. The buildings are old and waiting for an
accident to happen.n It's high time the Indian government devises a new scheme for the renovation of such places, making these living spaces climate resilient and
tourist-friendly without losing their cultural touch. Like old buildings could
be demolished, but the rubble of the old building can be reused to create a the
building in the same place by combining new and old design techniques, the cultural
touch, vibe of the place would be retained.
It's easier said than done; there are various
challenges in this project, some of them might be explaining to the people living
in these spaces to leave the place and let the government develop a place. People
might resist, but there are better ways to make them understand the difficulties
of these spaces. For instance, we can organize drills like in case of fire,
earthquake or other conditions what and how are the people supposed to react,
this will make the people understand the difficulties first hand and make it
easier to make them understand the need to redesign the structure so more lives
can be saved and if the old structure can be saved by making minor changes that
would be a win-win for all. In any case, a routine drill would be beneficial anyway, especially near the important tourist places.
In
case the people are convinced to make changes in the structure, there has to be
a solid road plan to renovate/rebuild the structure. Here are some of the ideas from around the
world that can be of help to the growing demands of Indian spaces. We can make
Lego like structures which are ready to be placed and used in less than 1 month
which would reduce the rental stiped that is to be given to the original
inhibitors of the place while it is being rebuild, or the govt might give
subsidy and monetary help to the people to rebuild the house according to their
wish and will as they deem fit but they would have to strictly adhere to the
National Building Code (NBC) of India 2016 and mandatory facilities, leaving
ample space for parking and playground, this would not only alleviate the
spaces but make the lives so much better in terms of living spaces and safety
standards, while India is bullish about the war on external incidents like
terrorism when are we going to heed to the dismal infrastructural issues the common
man feels now and then?.
There
are other issues like surveying of the area, which would be a golden opportunity
to make digital records of these properties, which have been held by generations
without papers, to give them land deeds and reduce the burden on the system.
This would solve so many problems of fraudulent land claims, yes, it’s a
humongous task to undertake, but an important one too. We can take the help of
good AI tools that may help in this task. We are at the cusp of technology
advancement, where huge tasks can be achieved by simple clicks, and the data can
be modified to make significant changes that have never ever happened before.
If not India, who will do this? We are the largest software exporter to the
world, and no one can customize these products better than the Indian mind. Later, this can become the basis of redevelopment projects around the world.
There are Other challenges with the
implementations of these plans, but every problem has a solution if you wish to
find one, many might say there is no way we can track the progress of these
schemes and ensure that the work is being followed by the NBC, the simple
solution is giving money an coupons to general public to report and make images
of the construction site, this way we have plethora of data on daily basis
uploaded by different unrelated individuals, and to chec the authenticity of the data, an official
goes every 3 months and clicks images of progression of construction which
later become the comparison points for the images posted by individuals to
reduce fiduciary and fraudulent claims. The use of AI will make it even easier to
compare and measure the progress. Measures like structural audits by a random and
independent firm before possession of the houses is given to fix
responsibility that the structures are built he way they are supposed to be. This will reduce the accidents that happen after the delivery of the
project. The whole process has to be digitally managed, and all the checks and
balances are to be allocated to random actors to reduce corruption, and
something on the lines of the Vivad se Vishwas scheme of 2020, which was a
brilliant idea.
While all these are done on macro
level, on micro level project gati shakti can take initiative to lay
down the other infra like water, electricity, sewage etc which shall be an
integrated approach which would lead to creation of a world class
infrastructure improving the overall tourism experience and living experience
to the residents of these places, something like the kashi Vishwanath
corridor. If we run rough numbers (calculated using AI models), it would take
something around 900 to 1200 crores and would, over time, generate around 2.7 lakh
crores, which is a rough estimation that doesn’t include the spillover effect.
Below is the list, which includes 2 cities from every state. All the
calculations done in this article are based on this list.
|
State |
City |
Heritage
Significance |
Estimated Cost
(₹ Crore) |
|
Andhra Pradesh |
Amaravati |
Ancient Buddhist site with
stupas and monasteries |
800 |
|
Lepakshi |
Renowned for its hanging pillar
and intricate Vijayanagar-era temple architecture |
600 |
|
|
Arunachal
Pradesh |
Tawang |
Home to Tawang Monastery, the
largest in India |
700 |
|
Assam |
Sivasagar |
Capital of the Ahom Kingdom, with palaces and temples |
800 |
|
Majuli |
The world's largest river island,
rich in Vaishnavite culture |
600 |
|
|
Bihar |
Nalanda |
Site of the ancient Nalanda
University, a UNESCO World Heritage Site |
900 |
|
Bodh Gaya |
The place where Buddha attained
enlightenment; UNESCO site |
1,000 |
|
|
Chhattisgarh |
Sirpur |
Archaeological site with
ancient temples and monasteries |
700 |
|
Goa |
Old Goa |
Colonial-era churches and
cathedrals, a UNESCO World Heritage Site |
800 |
|
Gujarat |
Dholavira |
Harappan city, UNESCO World
Heritage Site |
1,000 |
|
Champaner-Pavagadh |
Archaeological park with
Islamic and Hindu architecture; UNESCO site |
900 |
|
|
Haryana |
Kurukshetra |
Associated with the Mahabharata,
numerous temples and tanks |
800 |
|
Himachal Pradesh |
Chamba |
Known for its ancient temples
and rich cultural heritage |
700 |
|
Jharkhand |
Deoghar |
Baidyanath Temple, one of the
twelve Jyotirlingas |
800 |
|
Karnataka |
Hampi |
Capital of the Vijayanagara Empire;
UNESCO World Heritage Site |
1,200 |
|
Mysore |
Known for the Mysore Palace and the Dasara festival |
1,000 |
|
|
Kerala |
Fort Kochi |
Colonial architecture and a cultural melting pot |
900 |
|
Thiruvananthapuram |
Rich in temples and colonial
heritage |
800 |
|
|
Madhya Pradesh |
Khajuraho |
Group of Hindu and Jain
temples; UNESCO World Heritage Site |
1,100 |
|
Sanchi |
Buddhist stupas and
monasteries, a UNESCO site |
900 |
|
|
Maharashtra |
Ajanta-Ellora |
Rock-cut caves with ancient
paintings and sculptures; UNESCO sites |
1,200 |
|
Mumbai |
Victorian Gothic and Art Deco
ensembles; UNESCO site |
1,100 |
|
|
Manipur |
Imphal |
Kangla Fort and other
historical sites |
700 |
|
Meghalaya |
Nartiang |
Monoliths and ancient temples |
600 |
|
Mizoram |
Aizawl |
Cultural centers and
traditional Mizo architecture |
600 |
|
Nagaland |
Kohima |
WWII cemetery and Naga heritage
sites |
700 |
|
Odisha |
Konark |
Sun Temple; UNESCO World
Heritage Site |
1,000 |
|
Puri |
Jagannath Temple and Rath Yatra |
900 |
|
|
Punjab |
Amritsar |
Golden Temple and Jallianwala
Bagh |
1,100 |
|
Rajasthan |
Jaipur |
Pink City with forts and
palaces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site |
1,200 |
|
Udaipur |
City of lakes with palaces and
temples |
1,000 |
|
|
Sikkim |
Gangtok |
Monasteries and cultural
heritage |
800 |
|
Tamil Nadu |
Madurai |
Meenakshi Temple and the ancient
city layout |
1,000 |
|
Thanjavur |
Brihadeeswarar Temple; UNESCO
World Heritage Site |
900 |
|
|
Telangana |
Hyderabad |
Charminar, Golconda Fort, and
Qutb Shahi tombs |
1,100 |
|
Tripura |
Udaipur |
Tripura Sundari Temple and historical
lakes |
700 |
|
Uttar Pradesh |
Varanasi |
One of the oldest cities with
ghats and temples |
1,200 |
|
Agra |
Taj Mahal, Agra Fort; UNESCO
World Heritage Sites |
1,100 |
|
|
Uttarakhand |
Haridwar |
Ganga ghats and temples |
900 |
|
Rishikesh |
Spiritual centre with ashrams
and temples |
800 |
|
|
West Bengal |
Kolkata |
Colonial architecture and
cultural institutions |
1,000 |
|
Bishnupur |
Terracotta temples and
classical music heritage |
800 |
It's
high time the government also thinks about the lives lost due to bad infrastructure
too, there has to be an operation rehaish which cracks down on the loss due to bad and overloaded infrastructure over the years. How many more such
fire accidents are we waiting for?? Another Metro cinema? Another upahar
accident? Another Gulzar Hoze accident? India deserves an upgrade on the
infrastructure, but let it start from the tourists who may generate
enough money that will fuel the progress of other spaces, too. An image of developed
India cannot be imagined without reimagining these tourist cities. Aer all,
“the buildings we make today will shape us tomorrow”.
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