Some glitches that need to be pondered over
The Metro has changed many things in Delhi, in areas with Metro connectivity the middle class now travels differently. Travel, for those who can afford it, has become much more comfortable and rapid. All this has been written frequently about but there is a down side to the Metro story that is normally not talked about and I have often wondered, why.
The skyline of Delhi has changed at places where the Metro is over ground and I am not convinced that it is an improvement on the earlier skyline. Some of the stations, especially the over ground projections at Chawri Bazaar and Chandni Chowk, are eyesores. All over the world the metro networks have by and large followed a logic to ensure that the new structures, including stations, electric sub-stations, etc should be located underground. And if they need to be located above ground level they should merge, to the best extent possible, with the surrounding architecture.
Delhi metro has, to the best of my knowledge, not tried to ensure this in any systematic manner. The ugly concrete pillars upon which the tracks have been laid and stations built, have nothing in common with their surroundings. A sensitivity towards pre-existing urban design is something that the Metro cannot be accused of, probably the only place that they have tried to merge with the surroundings are the metro stations at Krishi Bhawan and Udyog Bhawan off Rafi Marg, but that is about it.
When the Metro started, it was given a virtual carte blanche. They could acquire any property and demolish any structure . Most of us agreed that without these kinds of sacrifices, a project of this magnitude would never come to fruition. The example of Calcutta Metro was quoted often to show how bureaucratic bottlenecks could delay things indefinitely. There are few examples in India of a public service project that has come up so rapidly. Even few are the instances when the places of worship were asked to move. But when managements approached the courts, they had to follow the orders. The same happened with the Panchkuian Road market.
The Metro Rail project showed that if the government wanted to do something it has the ability to exercise its political will and the courage to stand by its decision. Unfortunately, one does not see the government exercise its political will and give a demonstration of its courage as often as one would like to. In countless cases of places of worship coming up on public land and on heritage sites, the government has played silent audience and encroachments have become fait accompli.
The metro has, on occasions, been rather reckless in the exercise of the powers that it has been vested with. For example, till date there has not been any logical explanation as to why the metro network was built over ground outside the VIP district and Shahjahanabad. Agreed that tunneling takes more time, but that is the only valid argument. When compared, the cost differences are not too high and if seen against the cost of ruining the skyline of the city and causing disturbance to those whose houses are located within a few meters of the tracks, the savings are not worth it. The Metro follows a logic of naming stations that has escaped me totally. The yellow line has a station at Tughlaq Road Police Station but for some strange reason it is called Race Course. Tughlaq Road Police Station has significance in history as the FIR on Gandhiji’s assassination was registered here and the assassin, Nathu Ram Godse, was detained here. But the Metro Station is named after Race Course, almost a kilometer away, why? The race course is a place where horses race and its neighbourhood is at times known for serious horse trading. But does either of these activities deserve to be commemorated in this fashion? I should think not.
On the same metro line there is another station called Qutub Minar but the Minar itself is almost a km and a half away. Why could it not be named after Jamali Kamali, because that is where it is located? The next station is at Andheria More but is called Chhattarpur. Almost two kms further down, the Metro enters Gurgaon and the station should have been named Gurgaon but is called Dronacharya.
One would like to know on what historical or archaeological evidences these decisions have been taken. Or is it just a case of succumbing to political pressures? Perhaps political pressures of a different nature made the Metro Rail Corporation decide on Rajiv Chowk instead of Connaught Place. The idea of restoring Connaught Place to its original look, because it is part of a specific urban design with a history, is defeated if right in the heart of Connaught Place you have the hub of the Metro Network that calls itself Rajiv Chowk. A chowk incidentally is a crossing of two roads and Connaught Place has nine roads diverging from it. By no stretch of imagination can it be called a chowk, but then those with unbridled powers are not known to bother themselves with such linguistic niceties.
Keywords: Delhi Metro
The report is the 1st stone thrown for the demolition of an efficient organization built by (with a minimum if not zero corruption) by a set of highly dedicated officials.Such organization & persons are the best target for media to bring itt down. Delhi's Urban Art Commission has been the biggest stumbling block for fast moving projects. If one has to adorn all pillars &
buildings with sandstone etc .it would have looked as ugly as many buildings that have aped Luyten's archtecture mindlessly.Delhi is no more the good looking city that it was inspire of the udac
Honestly, not a very good article..pondering over glitches you mentioned..Some are apt,as in ruining skylines where it could have done otherwise or making effort to integrate metro structure to surroundings.Nevertheless, you may be right about racecourse or rajiv chowk but again if one was new to Delhi how is he supposed to know Jamali Kamali will be the station for Qutub minar. And also how can one name one metro station as gurgaon..how do you know which place in gurgaon..it vd be like naming any metro station to delhi or south delhi ,north delhi for that sake.Morover chattarpur makes more sense than andheria mor bcz of the famous chattarpur mandir.
The author is like my parents who always questioned when i got only 99%
marks and not hundred. The "flipside of Metro" really you just had something to write and wrote it off. Just go through the studies and Cost Benefit analysis of overhead and underground track. The problem in acquiring land for tunneling. I think you are going to gift the land to Metro in those heavily crowded city areas where lacs of people live.
Some very valid points, Sohail. Rajiv Chowk for Connaught Place and
nothing for "Gurgaon" in the five metro stations that fall in its
boundary, for me need a definite re look. People often mistake Rajiv
Chowk for the one in Gurgaon at the intersection of NH8 and MG road.
Some stone work on the outside of pillars and stairs in the historically important area could do the trick to some extent.
I am just happy that they have not renamed the Delhi Metro to Rajeev Gandhi Metro!
FYI.... gurgaon itself is named after Guru Dronacharya.... its Guru Ka Gaon...
Also, Cannaught Place itself was named Rajiv Chowk almost a decade ago.... where
have you been living my friend.
The writer, it is clear, has had no exposure abroad in the way he has
raised the bogey of 'ugly metro pillars'. Had he seen Metros and mass
rapid transports in first world cities like Chicago, Taipei, Paris,
Dubai, KL running on elevated pillars, he would not have dwelt on the
INSIGNIFICANT topic itself. Nor even, nearer home, has he cared to
take a ride on the newly built Tollygunj-Garia overhead stretch of the
Kolkata Metro and studied the advantages of having an overhead track.
Even Bangalore metro, which is under construction, has chosen the
overhead way. And contrary to what the writer says, it costs much much
less than building underground tunnels, which are also not possible to
build in congested areas.
As for his aesthetic and ecological concerns, it would have been great
had he referred to the Wikipedia and then attempted writing this
piece.
It's a shame that a newspaper like The Hindu wastes its space
publishing an ill-researched article like this.
Thank you
I don't really agree with this article.
One can find drawbacks and negativity in everything if a person
starts to think that way. The metro stations are named taking into
consideration the places which are closeby and more important. For
example for a tourist or even that matter general public its easier
to understand how they can reach Qutub Minar if the station is named
Qutub Minar, if it was named Jamali Kamali most won't know what it
is. Same goes with your Tughlaq police station and Andheria more as
well.
Please write articles for issues which are more important. There are
numerous other infrastructure projects which are still in planning
stage, you should write about those.
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