Renovation on the cards

Uttarakhand landmark location, Rajpur Road, to get a facelift as architect Vicky Rawat has been roped in by MDDA to spruce up the main road of Dehradun::

Anjali Nauriyal

Equipped with a degree in Energy Conservation in Building Design from Arizona State University Tempe, USA, Vicky Rawat is happy to serve his home state and is upbeat about the great opportunity that has come his way to spruce up and beautify Rajpur Road. This professional architect who is a native Pauri Garhwal has already designed and executed several projects for the ministry of environment and forests, Government of India in Doon, including the Stadium-cum-Gym Complex for the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, the Driver's Training Institute for Suzuki India and the state government and the ONGC Green Building.

It is now Vicky's turn to conceptualize and execute the beautification of Rajpur Road that is amongst the most daunting tasks and something he is really proud of.

But how does he feel about the transformation of Dehradun into a remorseless town of unrestrained construction and illegal encroachments? "It seems progress here has become synonymous with flouting norms," he quips unhappily adding, "But thankfully civic bodies such as MDDA, Nagar Nigam and PWD are now planning a recovery path. MDDA has now entrusted me with this daunting task and I have accepted this challenge as a loyal resident myself."

Vicky says that the Rajpur Road beautification project has at its core the idea of Green Doon Clean Doon. "This includes a facelift of the arterial road, running north from Clock Tower (the unofficial centre of the town) to old Rajpur Village, sprucing up various roundabouts, improving T-points, and smartening up intersections," he informs.

Vicky feels that the there is urgent need for the visual improvements. "It is essential that the city adornment is done in a pre-meditated manner such that infrastructure, greening initiatives and public amenities are bolstered without sacrificing the essential identity of the foothill township. Doon needs to regain its identity at the individual, community and organisational levels. Each town possesses its distinct personality in terms of local history, architecture, folklore and tradition. The idea is to link all these and match it to inevitable additions of progress in a manner that maintains yet enhances the town's uniqueness," he reveals.

For instance, Vicky plans to give Rajpur Road a uniform character by using colonial style roadside lamps, uniform colour on shops, using identical signages and planting hardy shrubs. "The aim is to create a look that is pleasing and uniform to the eye rather than a current state of confused randomness," he avers, adding, "I strongly feel that the new shops and buildings need to abide by stringent guidelines issued by the MDDA and old ones need frontal facade upgradation. The old and the new may be interestingly juxtaposed. Eventually every effort must add up to the depth, character, subtlety and uniformity to the city's setting."

In the pilot plan on Rajpur Road, he is taking care to include strategic planning of public amenities such as information and refreshment kiosks, solar-powered traffic posts and bus shelters and subways for commuters and pedestrians. For the convenience of the public, hygienic toilets and drinking water facilities will be ensured. "It is important that we maintain the existing plant covers and so go in for additional plantations of eco-friendly trees and shrubs along roadsides, T-junctions, crossing points, medians and central verges. We have already set up a fountain landscape at the Nehru Colony intersection that is being liked by the public."

In the months to come, Doonites can hope to see a tidy Doon filled with roadscapes like street furniture, benches, bollards, post boxes, phone booths, streetlight posts, information pillars, dustbins, etc. "To avoid parking snags, multistoried parking lots are also being planned," the architect informs. Handicap-friendly facilities will be provided at traffic intersections, sidewalks, curb slopes and bus shelters. An important part of the plan is to build small tourist shops, museums and other significant points providing books, brochures on the history of the city, with the active participation of the local people. Vicky strongly feels that progress is here to stay and so must be embraced and the best way to do it is through involvement of the people at the individual and community level. In western countries, local groups maintain individual neighbourhoods in conjunction with civic authorities. Similar partnerships need to be generated in Doon. For instance, the merchants of Rajpur Road with local residents can look after the upkeep of their areas. This would ignite the pride of the local people and they can come forward wholeheartedly in fighting the marauding of the city. So is anybody listening?