The Role of Minor Heritage & Their Contribution to Overall Significance on Delhi's Heritage

“THE ROLE OF MINOR HERITAGE & THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO OVERALL SIGNIFICANCE ON DELHI’S HERITAGE”

A research paper

Submitted by

MOINAK BOSE

SPA/NS/AC/487

IV sem M.Arch

Architectural conservation

SPA New Delhi

Introduction

Relevance with the Thesis

The thesis “Conservation Strategies for Safeguarding Selected Heritage Pre & Post CWG 2010, Delhi” highlights the relationship of mega sporting event viz. CWG 2010 and the heritage of Delhi. For this heritage is perceived within the category of “soft factors (influence on visitors due to multi-cultural atmosphere)” that has resulted in a deliberate attempt to modify the image of the city (heritage landscape) and is bound to have impacts - both positive and negative on heritage.

Facilities being constructed like the Delhi metro, elevated corridor, games village, etc have taken into consideration required planning measures which are also in accordance to master plan 2021, but as seen till now these changes are having a negative impact on the natural resources of Delhi which in turn is impacting heritage, an intrinsic part of the landscape. Similarly there are more instances by which the “Heritage of Delhi” is being impacted by the CWG in an already existing post independence scenario for example construction projects for Asian Games, 1982; a plethora of hotels, convention centers, auditoria, road flyovers, sports facilities like the Siri sports complex and Games Village constructed in 1981-82, disregarding an archaeological site and the significance of artifacts found therein. This led to setting of similar trends post Asiad, following which a lot of heritage was erased. Now with additional pressures to meet the CWG standards, heritage is in danger again. The thesis attempts to identify these impacts and tries to develop conservation strategies in a balanced way, between selected heritage and Commonwealth Games venue, in order to safeguard them. This Research paper tries to

identify minor heritage within the extents of the CWG (within Delhi triangle) and intents to evaluate their role, significance and contribution to overall heritage landscape of Delhi.

Areas of Research

1. Heritage of Delhi

a. The Natural Context

To understand Delhi‟s heritage context, one needs to understand the natural context and its setting in Delhi viz. the Ridge and the river Yamuna; their interrelationship has played an important role in limiting and shaping the physical location and structuring of its urban development over