The Hindu : New Delhi News : Police memorial draws protests

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 04, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Police memorial draws protests

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 3 . In a bid to stop construction of the controversial Police Memorial being built in the Lutyens' Bungalow Zone, a group of concerned citizens and conservation activists are working on a representation to the Prime Minister asking him to intervene.

"We are meeting tomorrow to work on a representation to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, as well as the Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, asking them to intervene immediately. We also want an enquiry ordered into the issue. We have received support from all quarters, including senior police officers and bureaucrats and want to emphasise that we are not against the construction of the Police Memorial. We are, however, strongly opposed to the height of the memorial, which should be in accordance with the 45-feet limit prescribed for the Bungalow Zone,'' said the convenor of the Delhi Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, (INTACH), O.P Jain.

Vulnerable to government apathy, the Lutyens' Bungalow Zone was declared one of the 100 most endangered sites in 2002 by the World Monument Watch. However, despite concerns raised by conservations, the skyline of this unique space is constantly being threatened.

Attracting more criticism than praise, the Police Memorial seems to have more than just heritage-lovers up in arms. "The memorial represents the growing concretisation of the city. Instead of increasing the green profile of the city, we are opting for steel and concrete, which goes to show the non-environmental attitude of officials,'' rued director, Toxics Link, Ravi Aggarwal.

But environmental and aesthetics concerns apart, the Police Memorial also exposes increasing politicisation of the once autonomous Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) that should have objected to the structure instead of giving it the green signal, believe experts.

"It shows not just bad design but also the insensitivity of political system to the surroundings. The height of the memorial is one of the obvious problems. Besides, the location and the manner in which it has been pushed, it stinks,'' stated senior conservationist, K.T Ravindran.

Set up as an advisory body to the Central Government to preserve and maintain the aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design in the Capital in 1974, unfortunately, the Police Memorial is not the only example in which the DUAC has compromised the objectives that it was formed to protect.

"There are many other instances in which the DUAC has bowed to political pressure. During the last political regime, the chairman's post remained vacant and the additional secretary of the Urban Development Ministry filled it on an ad-hoc basis and passed plans. Despite objections raised by experts about the Akshardham Temple complex on the banks of the Yamuna on National Highway 24, the DUAC did nothing to stop it. The new stadium coming up near Feroz Shah Kotla grounds also reflects the same compliant attitude of the Commission towards its political bosses,'' a source in the Commission revealed.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section

Towards more options for women

Major power, water crisis hits several areas

Police memorial draws protests

A search for L-G's rest room

Delhi to get plastic roads

PHDCCI for moderate tax rates

A close look at peace proposal

Gold, silver seized from train parcel

Man, son stabbed by neighbours

CINEMA

Pre-monsoon showers

Held for selling pirated DVDs

Around the City

Briefly

In The Capital Today