Ambedkar centre rejected for bad design

“The board members observed that the memorial, as part of the proposal, should have been a testimony of global visibility and attention. Even though the proposal is merely at the conceptual stage, there was no clarity on any specifics and how they would want to approach the construction,” a senior DUAC official said.

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DUAC officials also said that the proposal had no clarity on the construction methodology and material to be used in building the memorial, nor did it have any “well worked-out landscape scheme with proper signages”. The board also noted that the monument’s design was visible only through an aerial view and not from the level of the eye. “Such kind of a complex has to be of the level of not only national but international importance in terms of its iconic value. The place is likely to be visited by a large number of people, so a properly worked out traffic transportation scheme including pedestrian movement needs to be worked out,” the board observed.

At the time of the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Dr Ambedkar International Centre at Janpath in April this year, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot said the “government has decided to develop all important places related to Dr Ambedkar’s life — his birthplace at Indore, his residence in London and 26, Alipur Road in Delhi, where Dadasaheb spent his last days — into memorials”.