Times of India: Ahmedabad: Sunday, June 25, 2017.
The walled
city will soon lose some of its stunning heritage due to construction or give
in to commercial pressures unless new stringent conservation laws are implemented
immediately. A cursory glance at the Ahmedabad municipal corporation's
demolition notices will reveal the gravity of the situation.
In entire
2011, when Ahmedabad figured on Unesco's tentative list of world heritage
cities, there were 398 illegal buildings in the central zone issued demolition
notices by the AMC. Incidentally, a majority of the buildings in central zone
consist of heritage structures.
By December
2016, the number of illegal buildings had rise to 1,073. A majority of these illegal
structures 377 buildings were ironically traced to Khadia ward which has the
highest number of listed heritage properties and is Ahmedabad's showcase for
Unesco.
There are six
wards in the central zone. Information acquired under RTI by Kalupur resident,
Pankaj Bhatt, says that after Khadia, Jamalpur ward has 260 illegal buildings,
Shahibaugh has 167, Dariyapur has 144, Shahpur has 80-odd illegal buildings
while Asarwa has 45 illegal buildings.
"The
number of illegal structures will further increase if the AMC's town planning
department and the heritage department of the AMC do not co-ordinate on the
issue. Currently, both these departments work in isolation," a senior AMC
official said.
The official
also told TOI that in a submission before the Gujarat high court last year, the
AMC had admitted, on affidavit, that there are 692 buildings or premises in the
walled city which are being used contrary to the existing development control
regulations.
"The old
havelis are either occupied by tenants through generations or belong to
multiple owners. The only way to gain economic value from them is by selling.
Another reason is the proximity of these havelis to railway and bus stations
which makes them ideal to be used as godowns," the officials said.
Walk through
the lanes of Khadia, Raipur, Dariapur, Kalupur, Astodia, Jamalpur and Shahpur
and you will see demolition going on even in seemingly quiet corners. Some new
residential schemes have come up in Sewka Wadi (near Sankhdi Sheri), Hajira ni
Pol, Jethabhai ni Pol and Bhav ni Pol.
In some pols
in Raipur, old houses with intricate carvings and at least four bedrooms are
being brought down to build 2-BHK flats which are being sold for Rs 26 lakh
each. Even Ahmedabad's first pol, Moorat ni Pol, has been marred by illegal
construction. So have Khetarpal ni Pol, Bandhara no Khancho, Madan Gopal ni
Haveli, Revadi Bazaar, Akasheth Kuan ni Pol, Ghansiram ni Pol, and Kot ni Rang.