A brand new look for grand old avenue

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI, AUG. 29. In what is described as the biggest ever re- location of government quarters in the Capital, nearly 1,000 flats and bungalows along Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Marg in the Rouse Avenue area are being demolished as part of a massive re- development and greening plan.

The Union Urban Development Ministry has started work in a big way on the plan which envisages landscaping of about 200 acres along the one-kilometre stretch. Grand old dilapidated buildings would be razed to the ground and new commercial and institutional structures would come up in their place.

The entire area from Thompson Road to Ajmeri Gate right up to the Institutional Area on Minto Road including Zakir Husain College, Rouse Avenue and Kamla Market Road is being given a facelift. This in effect would mean demolition of nearly 1,000 dilapidated government flats and bungalows constructed during the pre- Independence period.

Some major functionaries who are being moved out include Delhi's Transport Minister, Mr. Parvez Hashmi, the Principal Secretary to the Delhi Chief Minister, Mr. S. Regunathan, and the National Museum Director-General, Dr. R. D. Choudhury.

According to CPWD officials, work is in progress and already about 350 flats and bungalows have been pulled down. Last year 11,000 slum dwellings were removed from the area, and another 1,113 are to be demolished in the near future. The Nehru Hill in the vicinity would be cleared of all slums.

The idea is to give a new look to the entire area from New Delhi railway station -- for which a modernisation plan has already been drawn up -- right up to ITO and then extend it to the Yamuna riverfront in view of the upcoming Metro Rail project which is all set to change the local landscape. ``The old bungalows were in a very bad shape and it was sheer wastage of prime land in the heart of the city. So a decision was taken to re-develop the entire area,'' say officials.

A major feature of the plan is landscaping of the stretch on either side of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg from the Minto Road crossing to Rouse Avenue Institutional Area. Having already developed Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Park over eight acres, CPWD is now extending it by another 16 acres. ``The work is expected to be completed by this year-end,'' say officials, adding that ongoing repairs to the School Lane fly-over are also part of the plan. A footbridge is being built to connect the landscaped park on either side of the road near the flyover.

In view of the increased land value after Metro Rail becomes operational in the next few years, new commercial structures will come up here. The area opposite the Metro Rail station on Thompson Road, which at present houses old government buildings, has been earmarked for parking lots.

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