WALK THE CHOWK

Negotiation and cautious optimism mark the pedestrianisation of Chandni Chowk

Omaxe Connaught Place in Greater Noida draws its name (and little else) from Delhi’s famous colonial shopping plaza. Inside, Oh! Max, billed as the country’s largest indoor theme park, has a replica of the Taj Mahal, a ‘6D’ movie theatre and a Mughal garden. Fifty kilometres away in Shahjahan’s actual capital, an Omaxe Chowk is in the works—a mall justified by its multilevel parking, a major requirement for old city traders and residents. When one contemplates Omaxe Chowk’s made-up mélange of ‘Mughal, British and Indian’ architecture, the recent unveiling of Chandni Chowk’s first phase of pedestrianisation seems like a tiny footnote on the changing landscape. Yet, this pedestrianisation, which will stretch from the Red Fort to Fatehpuri Masjid by November, is a significant first step in the redevelopment of the old Mughal capital. Once a 17th-century high street, Chandni Chowk had become a trafficchoked thoroughfare, and the retrofitting project recasts it as a promenade with limited and light vehicular access. Major achievements include burying cables, paving wide walkways, and adding jaalis, lampposts, signage and planters. If the design—red sandstone, low benches—looks familiar, it’s because the architect, Pradeep Sachdeva (who died this year), is also the one behind landmarks like Dilli Haat and the Connaught Place state emporiums. “In the grand scheme of things, we should just be thankful that at least something is being done,” says A.G.K,

Menon, architect and former convenor of INTACH’s Delhi chapter. Though the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation was established in 2008, its work existed mostly on paper until Manish Sisodia kickstarted the stagnant body in 2015. Heritage experts were cautiously optimistic, but not fully on board. “Even we felt a bit guilty about... objecting in court,” says Menon, who was friends with Sachdeva. The main issue the petitioners had was over a wall-like central ‘verge’, which would ruin the sightlines from Fatehpuri to Red Fort, with toilets, police posts and large transformers in the middle of the road. “Chandni Chowk cannot be treated like a highway,” says conservation architect and petitioner Smita Makhija, stressing that one-size-fits-all refurbishing was misguided. Because of the case, some elements of the project were renegotiated (existing toilets incorporated, for example) after a survey of the area by various stakeholders. There was also a feeling that heritage experts ought to have been included seriously in the planning stages. Makhija says, “We need designers who have the sensibility to work within the historical parameters, to make contextual solutions that will stand the test of time.” So for example, as history buff Sohail Hashmi observes, “The paving stones and bollards they have put are all sandstone, which Chandni Chowk never had. All the paving in Delhi was done with Delhi quartz.” “One thing we have learned is, it’s not my point of view that will prevail, it’s going to be negotiated,” Menon says. “But this opportunity is not going to come again, so let’s have a more inclusive dialogue.” Which means involving the residents as well. “Any civilised country has incentives for residents of a heritage area,” says Ratish Nanda, head of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. “Here, it’s only penalties.” Specific bylaws, transferable development rights (so people can convert havelis into hotels, for example), tax incentives and access to funds for maintenance are better ideas, say experts, than poorly enforced encroachment rules. “Bringing different stakeholders together is very important,” says Swapna Liddle, convenor of INTACH’s Delhi chapter. “Government bodies have that potential. They are ideally placed to bring everybody together.” With the Central Vista and Pragati Maidan projects ripping out New Delhi’s colonial and modern roots in other parts of the city, experts and residents hope Chandni Chowk’s pedestrianisation opens a path to a more informed, inclusive and incremental “custodianship” of heritage, as Makhija puts it. “The memories embedded in our heritage give you an identity,” she adds. “And you want that multicultural, shared identity. Look at Shahjahan. How many cultures did he draw upon to create a style?”

The pedestrianisation is a significant first step in the redevelopment of the old Mughal capital