Of the urban mess by design

 

 

NAGPUR presents a classic example of how a city has been messed up by ‘design’ -- almost literally, so to say ! The latest example of this comes from the Ashok Circle at which the fly-over (constructed by the National Highway Authority of India -- NHAI) runs tangentially through the gallery of a private house -- which also is an illegal construction. The images of the fly-over tearing through the outer edge or gallery of the private house are really shocking. The story is told of how the house-owner built the structure illegally and how he did not mind the fly-over tearing through it. He knew that his was an act of illegal construction, and therefore did not oppose the fly-over design. The authorities making the fly-over, too, did not mind doing a legally correct construction or the bridge. In the process, what is visible is a grand mess by (proverbial) design, so to say.

 

Such mess-ups by ‘design’ are available in the city at so many places. We also have the Kamptee Road fly-over that did not have the descent because there was no land acquired for the purpose. We have several such pieces of public infrastructure where design and utility stand divorced from each other. Common knowledge in Nagpur is that an overwhelming percentage of public infrastructure in the past few years presents failed design -- or, in other words, mess-up by ‘design’. Does this sound too harsh to digest? But that is hardly the purpose -- to cause hurt. The purpose is to bring to fore the different dimensions of reality of how Nagpur is being messed up thanks to wrong urban design or its hasty or thoughtless implementation. That is how we cause near-permanent damage to our lakes such as Telangkhedi (Futala) or cause inordinate delay to start the work of Naag River rejuvenation ... !

 

Let also take the example of the road between Kachipura (Ramdaspeth) square and Bajaj Nagar square. Both sides of the road are made of cement. The civic authorities have also created a good-looking design for the road-part alongside the ICAR complex. But there is something missing in the design. That is why the road goes under knee-deep water following a rain of just a couple of hours. True, the design is not at fault. At fault is in the torrential rain. Rain is the culprit -- and not the civic authorities or road designers and engineers. They have done their job very but, but the rains are the villains of the piece, you know !!! This is what the authorities must be saying to themselves in their after-hour conversations. So, dear Nagpurians, design is not at fault -- rains are. Design is not at fault or the implementation also is not at fault. The fault lies with the people of Nagpur.

 

It also lies with the media that constantly exposes the faults in public infrastructure. The media should cooperate with the authorities by keeping quiet ! For, when development is taking place, some collateral damage is going to take place. Hadn’t Rajiv Gandhi said after the Sikh massacre in 1984, in effect, that ‘when a large tree crashes down, the earth underneath also suffers sort of a quake’ ? ! ! ! And hadn’t the MetroRail authorities put up sign boards at their sights in Nagpur, in effect: Today’s Pain, Tomorrow’s Gain’ ? ! ! ! So Nagpurians, so what if the fly-over at Ashok Circle runs through the gallery of an illegally constructed house ? ! ! ! This is certainly a great argument, isn’t it ? ! ! The only problem is, how do we allow someone illegally to construct a house whose gallery butts into the fly-over’s proposed path ? And if this is true, then why not pull down the house first and then go about making the bridge ? This is the trouble. n