Latest news with #DelhiMasterPlan
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Why even moderate rainfall leads to flooding in Gurgaon
The Delhi Master Plan of 1962 saw Gurgaon (Gurugram) as a place of modest urban growth, primarily because the area has no groundwater resources. In 1980, with Maruti setting up its factory in Manesar, Gurgaon emerged as an industrial hub. A decade later, with liberalisation and the promise of rapid economic growth and infrastructural development, the mythical village mentioned in the Mahabharata became India's Millennium City, a model for 21st century urbanisation in India — and everything that is wrong with it. Every monsoon, Gurgaon witnesses extreme flooding: hours-long traffic jams, cars floating in the deluge, and people being electrocuted are common occurrences. All this happens even though Gurgaon receives only about 600 mm of rain on average every year. In comparison, Kochi receives well over 3,000 mm of rain annually without going under every monsoon. What makes Gurgaon, home to nearly 2 million people and boasting the third highest per capita income among cities in India, this vulnerable to monsoon flooding? The Aravalli ridge, on the southern edge of Gurgaon, is the natural high ground for the city. From there, the land slopes down towards the north, which is at a lower altitude. Rainwater in Gurgaon thus flows mainly from the south to the north, towards the Najafgarh Jheel in West Delhi. Maps from the 1920s show a large number of water channels in Delhi-NCR. The ones in Gurgaon ran along an east-west axis. 'Before MG Road and Sector 56 came up, there were water channels that ran parallel to the Aravalli ridge,' architect-urban designer Suptendu Biswas told The Indian Express. These were natural drainage channels, which carried runoff towards what is now the western edge of Gurgaon, from where water would travel further north. But these channels have all but disappeared, and subsequent urban expansion has not kept the city's topographic reality in mind. Today, Google Earth images show arterial roads like the Golf Course Road run on a north-south axis — this makes them ideal routes for surface runoff, especially given that drains are non-existent or poorly planned. 'Topography was not only ignored but also abused,' Biswas said. One reason why urban expansion in Gurgaon has not kept up with topographic realities is the piecemeal nature of city planning. This is borne out of the city's unique land acquisition model which is central to Gurgaon's growth story. From the 1970s onwards, the Haryana government introduced a series of laws, which enabled private firms to acquire land on a large scale to develop townships. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) was created in 1977 to streamline the process. Having developed neighbourhoods such as South Extension and Kailash Colony in Delhi, Delhi Land and Finance (DLF) alone acquired 52 villages in the initial years from farmers. As other players came along, land acquisition was not carried out in a uniform manner. This led to irregular plots, and roads that led to nowhere. 'Allocative decisions form the very core of conventional urban planning, which was missing in Gurgaon's story from the beginning,' Biswas wrote in Gurgaon to Gurugram: A short biography (2021). The 'plug-and-play' mode of urban expansion meant that roads were not built with proper gradients, nor was there any big picture thinking behind basic planning decisions for the city. In Gurgaon, mustard fields have long made way for highways and highrises. A region which once had 60 natural canals, critical to absorb its excess rainwater, barely has four today. But as concrete, impervious to percolation, has covered Gurgaon, civic authorities have failed to build a robust drainage system to deal with the problem. Concrete drains only add to the flooding due to their inability to absorb water. According to Biswas, India's engineering codes have no reference beside steel and concrete — earth is simply not something that planners consider while building a city. Biswas offered three 'common sense' solutions to address flooding in Gurgaon.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Neither Pak nor India to be blamed, our fault is we were born: Hindu refugees in Majnu Ka Tila
On a table in a room that has walls made up of corrugated metal sheet lies a notice issued by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the contents of which are powerful enough to shake up the future of 800 Pakistani Hindu refugees staying in a camp in Delhi's Majnu ka Tila. 'Bhai, notice aagaya hai… ab hum kahan jaayenge,' said a camp resident while referring to the public notice issued on July 14. 'How can they evict us without giving us any alternate living space… Some imaginary lines were drawn by foreigners to divide India and Pakistan. They didn't care about the toll it would take on us… We hoped at least the government of India would care about us,' he added, refusing to share his name. The refugee camp is located on the Yamuna floodplains, which, according to the Delhi Master Plan, fall in Zone 'O', where construction and housing are prohibited due to environmental concerns. The DDA notice issued on July 14 has stated: '…the Hon'ble High Court has given judgment in favour of DDA… In compliance… it is proposed to conduct demolition drive against encroachment in Yamuna River flood plain DDA land south of Gurdwara in Majnoo ka Tila on 15/07/2025 and 16/07/2025.' Requesting that the residents vacate the area by July 14, it added that if not done, 'they (residents) will be responsible for any damage caused due to demolition drive against encroachment' on July 15, 16, and thereafter. The eviction, however, is yet to begin, said residents. On May 30, the HC had dismissed a petition filed by one Ravi Ranjan Singh seeking the court's direction to the DDA not to demolish the camp, till some alternative piece of land is allotted to the residents under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Pointing out the need to secure the fundamental human right to a clean and healthy environment for the residents and future generations of Delhi, Justice Dharmesh Sharma had said in his May order: 'Given the critical condition of Yamuna river, this court unhesitatingly finds that no interference with the ongoing restoration and rejuvenation efforts of the river can be countenanced at the petitioner's instance.' Dharamvir Solanki, who has been living in the camp since 2013, said, 'Around 1,000 people live in this camp…700 of them don't have Indian citizenship. None of them has a ration card. Some have come after the CAA cut-off date of December 2014… Why even have a cut-off date like this?' While the walls of houses in the camp are made of bamboo slats, corrugated metal sheets, or even mud bricks, the roofs are an amalgamation of tarpaulin and straw. Some houses bear the marks of recent destruction or ongoing construction, and the ceilings are a rustic lattice of wooden beams and bamboo. 'It is neither the fault of India, nor of Pakistan… our fault is we were born,' said Maina (25), who has been living in the camp for the last 12 years. 'They called us 'Hindustani' there, and they call us 'Pakistani' here,' said Shruti (40), who has recently shifted to the camp. As her child asks for Rs 10 to purchase finger chips being made by a group of women inside the camp, Maina said, 'It breaks my heart when he asks for money… I earn just Rs 100 a day. I spend more than I earn. Earlier, we would sell mobile phone covers… but a single flood in the camp takes us 10 years back. Our savings, our inventory… everything gets destroyed.' 'We didn't even have power for the last 10 years. This used to be a cemetery… finding corpses in the ground was common a decade ago,' said Mohini, another resident. 'A snake is spotted here every single day… I am scared for my children,' she added.
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Indian Express
Coming soon at Delhi's Garden of Five Senses: Ayurvedic spa, paintball, rock climbing
The next time you go to the Garden of Five Senses near Saket, it could be for a visit to an ayurvedic wellness spa, to go rock climbing or play paintball. The Delhi government is planning to turn the space, which was designed to stimulate the five senses — sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste — into a recreational hub, which would include a library cafe, a craft cafe showcasing local artisanship, as well as adventure activities. The Delhi Tourism Department has invited an Expression of Interest (EOI) to engage a consultant to prepare a plan and guide the department for the job. 'Activities like pre-wedding shoots take place in the park, but to promote tourism, the department is planning comprehensive redevelopment. We have invited tenders to appoint a consultant/landscape architect,' said a senior official. The consultant will have to come up with a plan to redesign the entire park, including open and covered spaces, signage, art elements, furniture, shelters, parking, boundary walls, entry/exit gates, tourist activities, rainwater harvesting etc, said officials. 'The idea is to redevelop the park in a way that irrespective of whether you are a nature lover, fitness enthusiast, art admirer, someone looking for the perfect photo-op or someone who just wants to take a break and listen to the music from the singing trees from Bastar or the music pillars from Southern India, you can find it here…,' the official said. This is not the first time that redevelopment of the garden has been envisioned. When senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia was the tourism minister, he proposed activities such as bungee jumping and rock climbing, but the forest department did not grant clearance. Asked about the adventure activities being planned, officials said, 'Since there are rocks and trees, adjoining the forest area nearby, we will have to seek permission… The appointed consultant will study and give suggestions that will be feasible and not harm nature.' The redevelopment will be done in compliance with the Delhi Master Plan. 'The aim is to upgrade the park and beautify it, offering a variety of activities, keeping in mind eco sustainability,' said officials. At present, the park is divided into distinct zones — including the entrance and administration plaza, Khas Bagh, rainwater pond, Rang Bagh, Neel Bagh, zen garden, amphitheater, rock ridge and the solar energy park.
Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
A tale of Delhi's vanishing marshlands
On a humid May afternoon, 64-year-old Saleem Bhura sits on a weathered cot at the edge of a dense patch of reed grasses in the heart of north Delhi's Jahangirpuri. Towering six to seven feet high, the Phragmites and Cattail grasses sway gently, concealing one of the last remnants of the once-sprawling Jahangirpuri marshes. 'This 'johad' used to be massive,' Bhura recalls, gazing into the thicket. 'But it's all been eaten up. People burn the grass, dump debris, and soon, another building springs up. MCD, police—everyone gets bribes.' To be sure, marshes are low-lying areas which may be located near rivers, lakes or wetland ecosystems that are dominated by grasses and soft stemmed vegetation that thrive in saturated soil condition. These act as a catchment for run-off water, supporting their unique ecosystem. Once spread over acres, currently, only isolated pockets of north Delhi marshlands currently host grasses, such as Phragmitis, indicating a high groundwater level. During a spot-check on May 23, HT found that even these remaining patches were threatened by fresh construction waste and illegal structures. Barely 500 metres from Bhura's perch, a yesteryear waterbody has been transformed into a 'jheel park'—a park in name only, devoid of water. 'The lake dried up a decade ago,' says resident Ranjit Pandit. 'Embankments and walls block water flow, so during monsoons, the other side floods while this remains dry.' Satellite imagery from 2013 showed a thriving marshland with a significant waterbody in the area. Further north, along the Outer Ring Road, the degradation continues. A 12-acre marshland that existed until 2012 has been largely overtaken by construction debris. The remaining grass cover is narrowing, with parts being used to store industrial containers and waste. In 2012, Delhi Jal Board, which owned 285 acres of the marshland since 2004, handed over 42 acres to Delhi Police, 60 acres to PWD and more recently, 114 acres to Delhi Metro. Unlike lakes and water bodies, marshlands do not enjoy any legal protection. The DDA is working towards ecological restoration of around 25.38 hectares of Dheerpur wetlands in the region. Ecological importance Once an extensive part of the Yamuna ecosystem, the Jahangirpuri marshes connected with wetlands that extended from the Yamuna floodplains to areas around Azadpur and Dheerpur. In colonial-era records and irrigation maps, this whole belt was often loosely estimated at around 700 hectares, but the area decreased to around 300 hectares in the early 2000s. Changes in land use and further encroachments meant that by 2013, the Delhi Master Plan recognised only 74 hectares as marshland, marking a drastic reduction in its overall area. The marshland also acted as the catchment area for run-off from the north Delhi Azadpur belt and ridge. Its destruction has also led to increased flooding during monsoon, but lessons have not been learnt. Civic agencies continue to mark such water-accumulating sites as 'low-lying wasteland', filling them with construction debris, as well as soil derivatives from the biomining project at the three landfill sites. With 28 million tonnes of legacy waste yielding 60-70% of inert material, several low-lying water accumulating sites in Outer Delhi and Rohini are being filled and levels are rising. While the marshlands can be part of any water body ecosystem, they retain their significance even in the face of the water body's deterioration, according to experts. Faiyaz Khudsar, scientist in charge of the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) biodiversity parks programme, said it was critical to save such marshes and ecosystems. 'Freshwater marshes are shallow open-water wetlands and are dominated by herbaceous plants, particularly Phragmites, Typha, Sedges, Paspalum, and Polygonum, among others. Marshes are transitional areas between rivers or lakes and vast floodplains,' Khudsar said. 'Marshes are considered as highly productive ecosystems which help in trapping silt, mitigating flood, provide carbon sequestration and home for invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles birds and mammals, besides supporting many products valued by us, such as wild rice, and fish, and support ecotourism,' he said. Reclassification, degradation Jahangirpuri's plight is not isolated. Nearby, the Dheerpur marshes have suffered a similar fate. Once part of this larger marshy area until the Yamuna, much of Dheerpur has been filled, dyked, and repurposed for seasonal agriculture and infrastructure project. Bhalswa Lake, originally spanning 58 hectares, has shrunk to 34 hectares due to encroachments and pollution and so has the traditionally marshy area around it. Once known for its clear water and rich biodiversity, the lake now suffers from siltation, garbage dumping, and unchecked waste inflow from nearby dairies and households. The Delhi Jal Board took over restoration efforts in 2019, but progress has been slow, with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) stepping in recently to clean the lake's banks. During the visit, HT found encroachments right up to the lake's footsteps on the northern shore—on what would traditionally have been a marshy area, extending from the river. More plots with marshy grasses are being turned into new houses. In August 2008, the Delhi government took a decisive step that sealed the fate of the Jahangirpuri marshes. Under the Draft Zonal Plan of the Master Plan 2021, it cleared the entire 300-acre marshland for residential use—a decision that reclassified the land, effectively sealing the marshes' decline. The move covered 100 acres owned by the Public Works Department (PWD) and Delhi Police, and another 200 acres belonging to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The process of land-use change continued in subsequent years, further eroding the already diminished marshland. In February 2013, the DDA issued a public notice, proposing a change in land use for 19.33 acres of the marshes. This area, previously marked as 'recreational' and 'river and water body', was reclassified for residential development to accommodate housing for Delhi Police personnel. These successive decisions not only fragmented the marshes physically, but also symbolised the policy-driven retreat from wetland conservation. Cog in the landscape Experts stressed the importance of the marshy ecosystem, calling it as important as the Yamuna or the Aravallis, each of which supports its own flora and fauna. Manu Bhatnagar, the principal director of the natural heritage division at INTACH says older maps clearly show the Jahangirpuri marshes to occupy a significantly large area, which gradually dwindled over the years due to encroachment and a change in land use. 'Even in the 1970s and early 80s, it occupied an area of around 5 square kilometres. In 2002, we were awarded a project by the Delhi Jal Board to try and utilise the marshes to extract drinking water—around five to six million gallons per day (MGD) in monsoon. At that time, the area had already reduced to around 1 sq km,' Bhatnagar said. 'From Outer Ring Road, we can still see remnants of these marshes, where tall grass patches are still visible. This is mainly Dheerpur and the Jahangpuri marshes, or what is left of it,' Bhatnagar said, adding the area was home to several insects and subsequently birds. Blaming the city's growing population and general apathy for the destruction of the marshes, he said: 'Agencies and the administration did not think of marshes to be an important ecosystem. Rather, it was looked at as 'previous land' which could be utilised.' Diwan Singh, an environmental activist working on the revival of wetlands and the Yamuna said that the Jahangirpuri and the marshy area around it began to change significantly in 1990. 'This area used to act as a sponge for the Yamuna and when the river would swell during the monsoon, it would soak this water up, thus not allowing further flooding ahead,' Singh said. He stressed that the marsh ecosystem supports an array of life. 'From insects to frogs to mice to birds, there is a complete chain,' he said, adding while agencies still focus on water bodies, the importance of marshes is missed. 'In modern day context, they also filter pollutants,' he said.
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Business Standard
16-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Signature Global to launch ₹17,000-cr projects, eyes ₹12,500-cr sales
Real estate major Signature Global -- which has reported a sharp 48 per cent jump in its net profit for fourth quarter of FY25 -- on Friday said it was mulling launching five projects in the National Capital Region this financial year, notwithstanding the 'nationwide labour shortage' which the firm said has led to adoption of innovative technologies like pre-cast concrete material to complete projects in time. The new projects are likely to cost ₹17,000 crore. The company is also looking at collections worth ₹6,000 crore in FY26, up from ₹4,400 crore achieved in FY25. Pradeep Kumar Aggarwal, chairman and whole-time director, Signature Global told Business Standard that these projects will come up around Dwarka Expressway, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and the Sohna micro markets. Commenting on expansion plans, Aggarwal said the realty firm is currently looking to grow in the Gurugram region itself, but would not be averse to opportunities in the Delhi and Noida micro-markets. 'Currently, we have a strong pipeline of upcoming projects in Gurugram for the next two to three years, but we will be looking to bid for land parcels in Noida if any such auction opportunity comes through the Noida Authority,' he added. Aggarwal also said that Delhi has a potential for a mid-size housing market, especially in the L and N zones of Outer Delhi in the Delhi Master Plan. He added that Signature Global would look to stay in its core mid-size project segment with a ticket price of ₹2 crore to ₹4 crore. 'We are at a unique position in terms of ticket size, as we sold over 4,000 units in FY25 for an average price realisation of ₹2.5 crore. Since we are a mass housing minded company, we want to stick to the mid segment,' he said. Highlighting that the sector is facing a nationwide labour shortage, Aggarwal said that firms are now looking to take up advanced technologies such as usage of pre-cast concrete material. 'This shortage can sustain for some time, and therefore developers are turning to innovative technologies such as pre-cast and aluminium formwork technology for timely project completion,' he added. The realty major had on Thursday recorded a 48 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise in consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of financial year 2024-25 (Q4FY25) to ₹61.12 crore, up from ₹41.2 crore in the same quarter last year. The company's revenue from operations fell by 25 per cent to ₹520.43 crore in Q4, from ₹694.36 crore reported in Q4FY24. This comes after the company had last month announced a 61 per cent on-year drop in pre-sales bookings to ₹1,620 crore for Q4FY25, compared to ₹4,140 crore registered in the same period last financial year.
