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We’re walled in
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Wall-to-wall constructions are today choking Pondy
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PHOTO: T. SINGARAVELOU
SPACE CRUNCH Planned development is essential
Two pairs of brown eyes from shaggy bodies looked down upon me from a first floor balcony. What were the dogs doing up there? After a while and a walk, it came to me… in Puducherry many people don’t feel the need for things like set backs
, natural lighting and ventilation. The dogs were cooped up there because there is no space around or inside the buildings.
“Traditional construction in Puducherry has always been wall-to-wall and you find this inside the old town and old areas outside it. The old Tamil houses have mutrams (central courtyards that are open to the sky) and thus have sufficient ventilation and light. Some houses have more than one mutram, which keeps them airy. Mutrams are multi-purpose areas where children can play and other household activities also take place.” says Ajit Koujalgi, co-convenor, INTACH Puducherry.
But many homes, within the town limits, have today done away with the mutrams and have closed them, leaving just small slits open to the sky. This has been done to add more rooms. Outside the town, parking spaces in front of houses have been converted to shops.
Pondicherry Planning Authority (PPA) bylaws allow wall-to-wall construction inside the town limit and specify 60 per cent as built up area and 40 per cent as open space. But when an old building is demolished and a new building comes up in its place, the owners leave no space around it.
Rising costs, shrinking plots
Architect Israel Gnanaraj points out the reason for this is the shrinking plots. “The cost of land is spiralling upwards and people can afford only small plots. People don’t have space to build walls, where will they go for open spaces?” Few townships and apartments have now started to recognise the need for ventilation and open space, he adds. For the rest, it’s a space crunch.
Not just around the buildings but there are no spaces for parks, vehicles and pedestrian footpaths. There is no space for children to play, no place to take your dogs for an evening walk, no space to park your vehicles…
Dr Nallam, president of the Historical Society and who has witnessed Puducherry’s growth and development over the years, says that there is a need for planned development with a proper policy and the PPA must implement it. “The White town still has houses which have retained their tall ceilings. But over the years much has changed in the Tamil quarter (where inner-courtyards have been done away with).”
DEEPA H RAMAKRISHNAN
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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