The NBCC ‘model’ project is hardly the totem of sustainability and responsibility. It has been fined for non-compliance of environment laws, and official planning documents expose its shaky claims of urban design and economic viability.
For over four months, the national capital has seen public protests against the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’s “redevelopment” of Delhi’s seven government housing colonies. Citizens have questioned this project, which will privatise and commercialise public lands, fragment urban landscapes into wastefully designed gated colonies, and lead to congestion and pollution. Not only will this redevelopment impact citizens in the immediate term, but a valuable opportunity for generating planned housing, mobility and other public services to meet the needs of a growing city will be lost for another generation.
In response to these criticisms, NBCC, which is in-charge of building three of the seven colonies has upheld its ongoing project at East Kidwai Nagar (EKN) as the “model” project in order to gain credibility for its redevelopment project plans. EKN is a gated office-cum-housing complex located between Sarojini Nagar and South Extension.
However, if court orders and project documents are anything to go by, EKN is hardly the totem of sustainability and responsibility. It has been fined for non-compliance of environment laws. Official planning documents also expose its shaky claims of urban design and economic viability.
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