Is Heritage An Asset or A Liability?: Understanding The Debate and Din in Mumbai

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50-52] Article_Vikas Dilawari-Conservation Architect.

qxp 12/31/2014 3:42 PM Page 50

Resilient Architecture
redevelopment - mumbai

Is Heritage an Asset
or a Liability?
Understanding the debate and din in Mumbai
Vikas Dilawari, Conservation Architect, Mumbai

The present trends of


development in the
city of Mumbai are
scary and yet seem
to be only the start
of the reckless
redevelopment model
endorsed by the
government with
higher FSI (Floor
Space Index) as the
sole driving force.
Instead of addressing
the root cause of why
buildings are not
maintained and
become dilapidated,
increased FSI is
assumed to be the
here seems to be a sudden hue heritage building listing, one need to In the next five years in Mumbai, we
solution, even though
the increase of FSI
has not created any
T and cry from owners and
occupiers of houses and areas that
have been declared 'heritage' in the
know the facts before reaching
conclusions.
shall be seeing more re-development
with no proper planning and no parallel
infrastructure up-gradation. This is going
revised list of heritage buildings and Our forefathers who planned the city of to seriously affect the quality of life, the
more affordable precincts published in 2012 for Mumbai thought about the future of the social behaviour and the culture of the
Mumbai. Many political parties are also city while developing different areas. city. Shanghai and Singapore have
housing or endorsing people's views in practically Until and unless we can design a better already lost their historic areas and
commercial areas. all the newspapers, complaining that future for the city, we must protect and what's left of them are fossilised areas
they do not want the 'heritage tag' and conserve what we have inherited; hence with museum-like treatment, rather than
that their property should be de-listed. the conservation that we undertake a living and breathing historic area.
Though there may be some truth in the today is a tool to secure this Recently, there were newspaper reports
apprehension that people have regarding inheritance. saying that China has issued a warning

050 Architecture Update January 2015


50-52] Article_Vikas Dilawari-Conservation Architect.qxp 12/31/2014 3:42 PM Page 51

Slide Courtsey: Harshada Satam 3rd sem student KRVIA

to stop all construction in mega cities Museum in Byculla, and as seen in development now follows the normal d) Redevelopment is the need of the
like Shanghai as the air is heavily the extension to Grade I Chattrapati bye-laws and not the special hour:
populated beyond acceptable standards ShivajMaharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya guidelines of the precinct where Yes, re-development is the need of
and is creating health hazards. Back at which recently reconstructed its mass and scale, and setting of the the hour for buildings that are
home in India, in the beginning of every children centre. precinct is significant and that is the dilapidated and require
winter, the fog that encompasses Delhi area of the conflict which needs to reconstruction. It is the need of the
is also a warning to us in Mumbai, For buildings listed as Grade II, be addressed. hour if it creates affordable housing
reminding us of the 1400 cars that get adaptive reuse as well as internal stock for our city. The sad reality is
added to our city every day. While we changes are allowed but external b) Our buildings are old, not maintained that as the current Government rules
can't compare ourselves with developed changes need to be controlled, as and can collapse anytime, hence give more FSI and encourage
cities like London or NY, we can at least has been done in the Army and Navy heritage listing is not needed: reconstruction, we find even
stop ourselves from going the Shanghai Building at Kala Ghoda with More than the age of the building, structural sound buildings get
way. We have to address our own 'Westside' replacing the 'Indian one must examine whether the demolished under the pretext of
issues in our context and capitalise on Airlines' or in the BMC head offices building can be repaired properly or being dilapidated. The new buildings
our strengths. or in Tata Palace, originally a not? Some of the recent collapses in that come-up with the 'rehabilitation'
residential building now a functional the city (Altaf Manzil and Dockyard component are so expensive that
SOME COMMONLY HELD bank. Lifts have been permitted in Road BMC conservancy staff ordinary citizens can't afford such
MYTHS ABOUT CONSERVATION grade II A like Bradys Flat and residential building) were neither old accommodation. Hence the increase
a) Conservation means no-development: BJPCI. In Rallis House grade II A, nor heritage buildings but relatively in density is seen in suburban areas
This is NOT true for most heritage the shell of the building was retained recently built structures. The truth is like Vasai, Virar, Thane and beyond.
buildings and areas, and is true and complete new interiors were that all buildings require good Ideally reconstruction should be
ONLY for exceptional heritage stock done internally. Additional building maintenance and one should taken up by the Government itself
such as monuments that have Grade was permitted in Grade II B Anjuman encourage this and address this as (through MHADA) in public private
I status. For all other buildings and e Islam School, Addition of a floor the core issue and have a policy partnership model to ensure that the
areas termed as heritage, all that is was allowed in Grade IIB as in case which encourages good maintenance. cost of reconstruction is economical
required is sensitive development. of Cathedral John Connon School. and that the saleable component is
CST is a functional and one of the Repairs, addition and alterations, c) We can make no changes if our available to all strata of society in a
most frequented and used World adaptive reuse, changes in the buildings are listed as 'heritage': transparent manner (e.g. through
Heritage Site in the World that does interiors, etc. are all allowed in grade All buildings are listed for some lottery).
not mean it no changes… Yes no III buildings and heritage precincts, cultural value and these values need
one in proper senses would ask for and even redevelopment is allowed to be respected while one is doing REALITIES OF REDEVELOPMENT
its redevelopment as it is asset and when a building is damaged in a fire interventions. Hence there would be IN MUMBAI:
icon of Mumbai. or is structurally unsafe. Like some restrictions while dealing with a) Reduced quality of life for all:
Jhulelal House (Banque Indo Suez a heritage structure but that does not Ad-hoc Reconstruction is a severe
Similarly even for Grade I buildings, bldg.) which has retained the old mean that no changes are permitted. load to the fragile century-old
development is possible: we can arches and has reconstructed a The heritage listing means that one infrastructure (roads, sewage) and
have international and national design contemporary block in that envelope. needs to be sensitive while adversely affects the quality of life
competitions to encourage the best Repairs and renovations have been undertaking essential changes that for the citizens of that area. It is
contemporary or contextual design allowed office buildings of Ballard may be required. Examples above seen that people residing in many
for a heritage building, as has been Estate which grade III. The reveal that changes are allowed to streets abutting heritage buildings,
proposed for Dr Bhau Daji Lad unfortunate part is that the re- meet the need. and who never owned any vehicles

Architecture Update January 2015 051


50-52] Article_Vikas Dilawari-Conservation Architect.qxp 12/31/2014 3:42 PM Page 52

but in new redeveloped sites rights of the landlord and market


following the generic law where rates. A cess should be levied on all
parking is free results in multi- redevelopment proposals and the
storeyed car park in podiums but funds of this should be used to
these are later sold at a premium. preserve the surrounding areas.
The podium disconnects the building
with ground and street level which h) New redevelopment of the recent
was the character of the area and past that has destroyed Mumbai's
allows individual buildings to sell urban fabric can still be erased:
flats easily as it raises average Recent redevelopment that has
precinct height by 4 floors or so and happened in Mumbai has all involved
allows for good views of the city in the demolition of existing structures
its high rise. This may be true for a and the reconstruction of new
while, but is ultimately an illusion as buildings. These new buildings are
when the whole area undergoes certainly not going to be the heritage
similar redevelopment, then there will of tomorrow, as they are poorly built
be dark alleys and narrow streets and already in states of disrepair with
with multi-storeyed car parks and no maintenance being undertaken. As
flats with no view, no natural light or Mumbai prepares for a new
ventilation as the adjacent building policies to encourage redevelopment provided he and the tenants together development Plan, there is an
would have blocked it all. Examples through TDR (Transfer of come forward for professional repairs opportunity for us to reconstruct
of this kind of development are Development Rights), increased FSI and with an undertaking of looking these buildings in a manner
visible in the Bellisimo and Minerva (Floor Space Index) and MHADA after the building for 2 decades till consonant with the surroundings, and
residential towers near Mahalaxmi (Maharashtra Housing and Area the new master plan for the city is hence restore the urban fabric of
Station. Development Authority) policies. being prepared. areas that were affected by these
rashes of new developments.
b) Unaffordable maintenance costs However, despite the fact of a large g) Other incentives:
leads to displacement: number of buildings in Mumbai Some other incentives that the i) Traffic / Car parking:
The maintenance of these needing repair, strangely enough, so government can consider to Blindly providing car parks based on
redeveloped properties are so high far there is no comprehensive policy encourage repairs over reconstruction numbers is not the solution to
that the tenant who was housed in for repairs even by MHADA. The is to limit the increase in lease rent solving parking problems. Traffic
the old building finds it difficult to Repair Board under MHADA can be to only 50 per cent for repaired management is the solution that has
stay in the new properties, being entrusted with the task of repairing properties, as compared to the 100 been successfully adopted world-
used to meagre rents enforced heritage buildings by introducing per cent increase for redeveloped wide, and this involves discouraging
through the Rent Control Act . This basic concepts of conservation to its properties. Property taxes should also use of private vehicles and parking
results in gentrification of the area engineers; concepts such as use of be reduced to 50 per cent to and incentivising those those who
and the community or inhabitants like-to-like material, minimum encourage repairs and restoration. use public transport. Policies for
that stayed in an area for years and intervention wherever possible, and Rents of areas leased out in heritage repair and redevelopment of
who had associations with the place respecting the authenticity of a properties to be increased for buildings should also reflect this
become uprooted. building. The present budget of commercial premises and larger understanding.
MHADA for repairs of Rs 200/sq ft is premises, to reflect market rates, so
c) Increased load on same public inadequate for a good and proper as to enable the landlord to have Cities are ever growing and ever
amenities: repair following the conservation economic benefits from leasing out renewing but the question to be
In areas that undergo redevelopment, pattern and requires should be his / her property. For smaller areas addressed is a good planning policy
as the amenities and infrastructure of raised, based on prevailing rates and that have been rented out in heritage which caters to the need but arrests the
the area is not similarly increased to repair techniques in practice. properties, the rents to be calculated greed. Quality of life is as important in
keep up with the increased number based on economic considerations heritage and redevelopment and one
of people using this, this puts a e) Need to adopt repair, rather than that strike a balance between the should address it. 
strain on these shared amenities, reconstruction:
such as gardens, railway and bus If we chose to repair a building, this
stations, etc. leading to even further is usually always more economical,
Vikas Dilawari is a practicing conservation architect with more than two and half
reduction in the quality of life. The while also retaining the people in the
decades of experience exclusively in the conservation field, ranging from urban to
road widths are the same but the building in their original location as
parking has increased many folds in they then do not shift (permanently architecture. He has done his double Masters in Conservation from School of Planning
its podium style car park. or temporarily). If these buildings are and Architecture (New Delhi) and from the University of York. He was the Head of
well kept and restored (e.g. Lal Department of Conservation Department at Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of
d) Heritage policies threatened by other Chimney Compound) then they Architecture (KRVIA) Mumbai from its inception in 2007 till Aug 2014. His practice
contradictory policies of the would also create affordable building has successfully executed several conservation projects ranging from prime landmarks
government, and by lack of a repair stock, which is the need of the hour. to unloved buildings of Mumbai. He was instrumental with INTACH Mumbai chapter
policy: to list the CST station as World Heritage Site in 2004. Several of his projects have
The built heritage of Mumbai was f) Conservation needs incentives, just received national recognition. A total of ten of his projects have won UNESCO ASIA
protected, not only because of the as redevelopment has incentives: PACIFIC Awards for Cultural Preservation in SE Asia. Prof Dilawari has lectured and
heritage laws (that are relatively To encourage conservation, the written extensively on the subject of conservation nationally and internationally. He
recent), but also because most of government should focus on policies
was one of the reviewers on technical mission of ICOMOS to review the works at
these buildings had consumed more that encourage repairs. In presence
World Heritage Site of Ayutthaya in Thailand in May 2014. He is a Trustee of Indian
FSI than what was permitted by the of existing policies such as the Rent
Heritage Cities Network (IHCN) and Co- Convener of INTACH Mumbai Chapter and
Development Control Regulations Control Act that disadvantage
(that were framed after these landlords from maintaining a a member of Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC). He was member
buildings were built) and hence it building, to encourage repairs, Board of Governors of MMR HCS (Heritage Conservation Society) from 2009-2011.
made economic sense to keep such incentives in the form of additional He is named in the latest Architectural Digest AD 50 Awards as the most influential
buildings intact. This is however now marginal FSI or TDR of say 0.17 names in Indian Architecture and Design.
changing due the government's new should be allowed to the owner,

052 Architecture Update January 2015

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