Ahmedabad civic body faces tough questions over conservation of heritage homes; owners allege delay in plan approvals

The historic Walled City of Ahmedabad was officially inscribed as India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City on July 9, 2017.

While Assistant Municipal Commissioner Prayag Langalia sought to calm the situation by saying that the civic body would expedite the process, he added that about 73 plans had been approved by the AMC over the past six months. He also urged homeowners to discuss specific cases privately.

Several attendees argued that files had been pending before the Municipal Commissioner for months without being signed and said they had a right to raise the issue at the seminar. Municipal Commissioner Banchha Nidhi Pani, who delivered the opening address, had left the venue shortly after due to another engagement and was not present during the interaction.

Attendees also questioned the choice of venue for the seminar, which was held at Riverfront House on the western bank of the Sabarmati. They argued that only a few heritage homeowners could attend and said the consultation should have been held in the Walled City, where most heritage homes are located.

A moment of comic relief occurred during the otherwise heated exchange when Langalia, moments after saying that solutions could not be reached as long as stakeholders were divided between the AMC and homeowners, later referred to the issues as ‘your problems’. An attendee corrected him by saying, ‘our problems’, drawing laughter from the audience.

Homeowners, frustrated by delays in the approval of their renovation and conservation plans, said they were less concerned about the money owed to them under the Tradable Development Rights (TDR) scheme and simply wanted permission to proceed so that the structures could be conserved.

Tradable Development Rights refer to unused construction rights or floor space that a landowner can sell to developers in designated areas. These rights are granted as an incentive for owners of buildings with heritage structures or for building units within a notified heritage precinct. The benefits are determined according to the heritage value classification of the structure under the heritage conservation plan and are based on the utilised Floor Space Index (FSI), irrespective of the building unit’s area.

Of the 2,698 listed heritage structures in Ahmedabad, 2,249 are residential and 449 are institutional, the latter including national monuments.

The Indian Express spoke to Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ramya Bhatt, who denied that there were delays in approvals.

“There have been more approvals in the last year than before. A total of 134 properties have received Heritage Tradable Development Rights certificates since the scheme was implemented, and TDR worth Rs 72 crore has been approved for approximately 16,000 square metres,” Bhatt said.

“In the last year, we also constituted a new committee chaired by the Municipal Commissioner that studies proposals and grants approvals. However, some people raising these issues were RTI activists and not heritage homeowners. They were referring to problems from about a year ago,” he added.

Asked whether there was a fixed timeline for approvals, Bhatt said proposals that comply with conservation rules are processed quickly.

“When someone claims to own a heritage house, they must submit a plan in accordance with heritage regulations. If the proposal complies with conservation rules and traditional methods, approval is granted within a month. But if someone submits a proposal to build a Reinforced Cement Concrete structure, approval will not be granted even after five years,” he said.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the AMC said a dedicated Expert Subcommittee for Heritage Approvals (ESHA) has been constituted under the Heritage Conservation Committee to expedite the technical scrutiny of repair, restoration and development proposals for notified heritage properties.

The civic body also said a digital application system has been introduced for restoration permissions for listed heritage buildings to improve transparency, efficiency and monitoring of approvals.

According to the statement, the AMC’s heritage department has also been strengthened with additional professional staff, including conservation architects, engineers and technical personnel, to speed up approvals and documentation related to listed heritage houses.

Bhatt said the AMC had anticipated that such concerns would be raised but remained hopeful of meaningful engagement with stakeholders. He added that further consultation seminars would be held in the coming days.