Delhi has aesthetic beauty in its parks, gardens, sidewalks, road dividers, and some well-known localities. From the iconic Connaught Place to the exclusive Lutyens’ Delhi, from the historic Mehrauli to the regal Shahjahanabad, there is an aesthetic touch to the unique landscaping and beautification in the national capital. It makes one wonder whether such creativity can emanate from the boardrooms of the New Delhi municipal committee which is normally overwhelmed in civic complaints and urban planning.
It comes as no surprise that there is indeed a separate body, the Delhi Urban Art Commission. Formed by an act of Parliament in 1973 and established a year later, this innovative commission quickly got to work from the India Habitat Centre in Lodhi Road and set about its task which officially is to provide expert advice to the central government in the matter of preserving and maintaining the aesthetic ambiance with environmental design within Delhi. Also, to advise and guide local bodies in respect to any project of building operations, engineering operations, or any development proposal, which adversely affects building heights that obstruct the view or the appearance of any locality including buildings and land.
The Delhi Urban Art Commission has, in the last 46 years of its existence, done more work than the textbook definition mentioned above. Whether it was for the 1982 Asiad or the 2010 commonwealth games, Delhi got a facelift and each time the ancient city became an epitome of beauty as the 5-man army of the DUAC went about not just advising but changing the face of the national capital.
The grand precedent set by the Delhi urban art Commission was emulated by the bordering towns of Gurgaon, Faridabad, and Noida which gradually became one with Delhi to become the National Capital Region (NCR) and is today indistinguishable from Delhi in its creative beauty. It’s as if the Delhi Urban Art commission has spread its wings to span a vast seventy km radius of concept buildings, brilliantly landscaped crossings, gardens, and even traffic islands.
More complications came in with time. Delhi has grown and become congested now and there is a constant battle to save the forests, parks, and gardens being usurped by encroachers and unscrupulous builders. Ecology and heritage have taken precedence.
The Delhi Urban Art Commission gets down to Work
During the decade in which the Delhi Urban Arts Commission was constituted, it faced the daunting task of controlling the sudden spurt of high-rise buildings. At that time, the priorities of the commission were to find ways to make traffic networks work more efficiently, to save the few remaining oases of forest land, riverine areas, and gardens from wanton encroachment, to improve the quality of life in the areas around historic monuments such as the Old Fort, the Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, and others.
Two other priorities of the Delhi Urban Art Commission during the time of its inception were to ensure that areas in not good condition were restored with a touch of elegance and to freeze the New Delhi bungalow area.
The corporation realized the magnitude of the problems it had at hand. With the growth of the city, more administrative and regulatory bodies were constituted, and the Delhi urban arts corporation had to make its presence felt. A memorable exhibition “Imagining Delhi” was organized and it made a big impact.
A few years later, important projects like the Delhi Metro, the Asian Games, and the Commonwealth games came up. The corporation faced the task of getting agencies with common areas of jurisdiction to the negotiating table. In the light of multiple projects and an ever-growing city, the DUAC had to protect the fragile ecology. There was a pressing need to improve the Shahjahanabad area. The DUAC launched 2 pilot projects in the Khirkee and Sunehri Bagh projects.
The Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) has organized workshops and seminars from time to time to showcase the commission’s activities and to raise more awareness about the need to beautify and clean the capital. The purpose was to promote work of art as an integral part of infrastructure projects. The DUAC has shown what an innovative think tank it is. The commission is now asking for metal plaques on important buildings, mentioning the name of the owner, the builder, and the architect. It has also proposed having a kind of architectural competition before releasing tenders to not only attract the best talent but to instill a sense of competition among bidding agencies to get the best quality proposals and designs.
The Delhi Urban Art Committee has taken the approval of the government of India for specific activities ranging from the development of High-rise buildings along Metro Corridors, uniform building by-laws for Delhi, repair and beautification of Delhi’s gardens, design for high tech public toilets, and a single vision proposal for Delhi.
Functions of the DUAC
The Delhi urban art Commission (DUAC) plays a major role in continuously enhancing the aesthetic attractiveness of the Delhi capital region and ensure the beauty is sustained by regular and focussed maintenance of the entire area.
- Approve the design, appearance, and facade of new construction including parks and gardens, traffic islands including a selection of artwork and decoration.
- See to the Conservation and beautification of monuments and green landscaped public areas. Ensure they are maintained.
- Location or installation of fountains and creative sculpture.
- Development and beautification of the district or civic centers in areas reserved for government administrative buildings and residential complexes.
- Supervising projects and layout specifically aimed at beautifying Delhi and enhancing its cultural richness and showcasing the beauty of the national capital.
- Supervising and recommending the preservation and maintenance of heritage monuments and buildings. Recommending, designing, and supervising the placement of informative boards.
- Restoration and maintaining the continuous development of areas around the iconic historical monuments in the old Delhi area including the Purana Qila.
- Helping design and decorate flyovers, multi-street crossings, street decoration, and billboards.
- Redevelopment of the areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), including Central Vista, Connaught Place Complex, and Lutyens’ bungalow area.
- Suggesting suitable Location and scrutinizing plans for infrastructure buildings including substations, transformer banks, and buildings for water supply, telecom towers, and other construction of these types.
DUAC: Latest News
The Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) was recently in the news for its role in the design and approval of the new parliament building. The DUAC approved the plan on the condition that there would be a single multilevel parking facility, good landscaping, and an adequate display of art.
The DUAC has asked local bodies to identify a suitable plot of land for converting into a multi-level parking zone. The objective of this exercise would be, the Corporation explained, to combine multiple parking spots into one consolidated area and that there should be enough parking for all. The Delhi Urban Art Commission also asked for adequate lighting including natural lighting, especially in the Rajya Sabha Chairman’s office and the offices of the speakers. The Corporation suggested the use of skylights in these areas so that they could receive more natural light.
The Delhi Urban Arts Commission has shown it is unbiased in its decisions. Back in 2013, several builders of projects in Narela and Rohini had approached the commission for approval. There were issues regarding parking and area density. The Commission gave conditional approval, asking the applicants to get these approvals from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The commission even wrote to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in this regard and the DDA went on to get the necessary approvals.
The DUAC puts its foot down
In another case, the Delhi Urban Arts Commission was approached for approval for 40 storey highrise buildings beside the Vishwa Vidyalaya Metro Station. The commission asked the architects to re-examine the aesthetics for doing better justice to the area. The architects came back with a revised proposal for 19 floors and the commission approved this change.
There are also cases where the Delhi Urban Arts commission puts its foot down on projects where the environment and ecology are adversely affected. Based on an MOU signed between the deputy director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and NBCC for building housing colonies in the adjoining areas of west Kidwai Nagar and Ayur Vigyan Nagar where 28.3 acres and 48.9 acres respectively were allotted for the “redevelopment” project. The AIIMS finance committee followed by the cabinet secretariat gave in their approval. Later in 2019, the expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment also cleared the project. This led to a 7GPRA citizen’s protest and several court cases.
Once the DUAC came into the picture based on an application submitted to them, they rejected the Ayur Vigyan project for the loss of tree cover in the area. The report submitted to the DUAC itself mentions 1687 trees of which 700 would have to be cut to make way for the new construction. The DUAC further pointed out that traffic management was missing from the project EIS documents and asked for the impact of traffic management that the project would have on the entire area.
The times are changing
The DUAC is changing with the times and has digitized its entire application process. Now the online site of the commission allows uploading of documents required for approval and eliminates the inconvenient process of applicants carrying bulky files for an evaluation meeting.
The DUAC site now has an option for registering Public grievances and checking the status of projects submitted for approval. There is also an option where citizens can check the RTI (Right to information) guidelines.
FAQs
- How can I contact the Delhi Urban Art Commission?
The phone numbers are 011-24619593 and 2461 6391. The email ID of the Commission is duac74@gmail.com. The address is:
Delhi Urban Arts Commission
Core 6A, UG and first floor, India Habitat Centre
Lodhi Road, Delhi 110003
- Which body should I approach for the landscaping around the area of my residence which is being encroached by squatters and vandalised by unauthorised encroachers?
The responsibility for monitoring and upkeep of all aesthetic work is supervised by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission. Please register a complaint with the DUAC, mentioning your home address, the locality, and the municipal ward under which the area comes.
- I have complained to the municipal corporation about unauthorised construction in my locality, but no action has been taken. Should I go to the police or to any other higher authority?
The most suitable place to lodge your complaint is the Delhi Urban Arts Commission if the DDA has not given sufficient grounds for rejection. You will need to provide your name, address, and the locality where the unauthorised construction has been reported. If you have receipts of any unanswered complaints to other authorities, you may attach these. Please remember to mention the ward number of the municipality under which the unauthorised construction falls.
- Can I approach the Delhi Urban Arts committee if my project is rejected by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)?
You can approach the Delhi Urban Arts Commission in case your building project is rejected by the DDA and they have not given sufficient grounds for rejection. The DUAC may ask for some modifications to be made. Once the DUAC approves the changes, you may ask the DDA to reconsider. In some cases, the DUAC may even write to the DDA with a recommendation. This will help your revised proposal in getting approved.
- Does the Delhi Urban Arts commission act as a kind of appellate body?
In certain cases, yes. Especially if re-approval of a rejected project by an alternate agency is being sought. The DUAC is often approached by citizen bodies for intervention when an approved project adversely affects the ecology, the aesthetics and increases burdens on the people living in the locality.
