Dehi, September 30: Residents of the walled city wanting to renovate their homes could be given permission to use their properties as hotels or for other commercial uses if they restore the building’s lost heritage, a civic authority official said Wednesday.
Afraid that urbanisation and modern architecture could undo the Mughal-day architecture and ruin the Shahjahanabad or Old City charm, concerned city planners feel incentives could address the issue.
“We are planning to give residents incentives via a new licensing policy of building bye-laws which could be introduced under the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) Act. Under this we will tell notified heritage buildings that they should consider rebuilding facades and maintaining the Mughal architecture,” Deputy Commissioner City Planning Vijay Singh told IANS.
The MCD has so far notified 223 monuments as protected and its Heritage Conservation Committee is carrying out detailed surveys on 800 more listed sites, which would be completed in another three months after which these monuments too would be notified, Singh said.
A majority of these structures are largely residential while some are also used for commercial purposes as storage warehouses.
MCD councillor from Ballimaran, Renuka Gupta highlighted that the MCD’s thrust on renovating could also ensure that out of work artisans, who specialise in constructing the Mughal style architecture in pillars and facades, can earn a living “without compromising their skill”.
“There are so many such artisans out of work. The skill is slowly disappearing and with such commercial incentives to residents, those artisans will get back their livelihood,” Gupta told IANS.
-Agencies