Lodhi-ear Toilet Update: Revenge of the Modern

The "Lodhi-era toilet" coming up at Defence Colony Market is much nearer completion now, and while we've been spared a Lodhi tomb replica, this is now turning out to be some kind of "modern design smashing through a representation of Delhi's past" kind of thing. So it seems a bullet has been dodged (no Lodhi-era toilet!), but this throws up a whole new set of intriguing ideas!

The new public toilet at Defence Colony Market


The design concept for this structure seems to have been that a that modern, world-class (since that is such a catchphrase these days) Delhi, represented by the glass, steel and aluminum facade, is breaking through the old, staid stone edifice of a Delhi of the past. The technological advancement of today is (finally!) breaking through simple, low-tech yesterday. Worldliness is breaking through unrefined indigenousness.

However, to me, the stone edifice represents not just the Delhi of earlier centuries, but could also refer to the Delhi of earlier "government-sanctioned" modernism from the 1960s-80s, which used a lot of stonework of this kind. In this way, it represents the gleaming facade of today's "public private partnership" (PPP) model breaking through the older facade of complete government project-control. Nehruvian modernism, which itself tried to break free of the past, is now pushed into and lumped with that past, with all it's connotations of "failure" and the need to break free from it.

Of course this is reading a lot into a public toilet (with a cafe above it), and it might just be a much more jocular and playful interplay of old and new to attract tourists, but if there is at all an intention to represent a break, then I'm pretty sure it's not just a break from the far away and thus benign era of Delhi as necropolis, but also a reference, even if just associatively, to a much more recent past as well.

I also have to add that for some reason, these toilets are nearly as well guarded as Rashtrapati Bhawan is - there are guards posted on all sides of the structure, and even a few thugs lounging about with the guards. It took all my photographing wiles to take these photos! Maybe it's just the contractor's men, maybe this is the usual modus operandi for commonwealth games construction and this one is just much more noticeable because it's out in the public, or maybe the builders are so pleased with their design that they don't want anyone copying it!

Whatever the answers are to all these issues, from the beginning, this take on public toilets has just been a weird and fascinating exercise! We also need a new name for these toilets, since "Lodhi-era toilet" is no longer applicable. "New Indian neoliberal public toilets", perhaps? :)

Delhi's new "Lodhi era" toilets

Okay, so when I mentioned a few posts back about dearly lacking "coordinated innovation" among the various government agencies that look after Delhi's urban landscape, this is not the solution I had in mind! Public toilets that look like Lodhi-era tombs from the 15th and 16th centuries? Really?

Public toilets under construction at Defence Colony Market




These new "world-class toilets" (that's the term that was repeatedly said to me by people at and around these construction sites when they were at a nascent stage) look like they're the crazy brainchild of some MCD and ASI officials who had had a few pegs of Solan No.1 too many sitting together one evening (I'm not claiming that this actually happened)!

While the finished product of this example at Defence Colony Market is yet to be seen, I really don't know what they were thinking. Why make a public toilet look like some of Delhi's most visible historic landmarks?

If anyone is wondering why these toilets are on two floors, the ground floor houses the toilets themselves, and the floor above (with a mezzanine as well, I think) will be a cafe or restaurant. Go figure!

To be fair though, others I've talked to don't think this is a bad idea, and actually like this structure as it comes up. Others still think it will encourage pissing in the actual tombs strewn about Delhi. I guess we'll have to wait a bit more to see how all this shapes up ...

Sarson ke khet sightings in popular culture

First a sarson ke khet sightings in pop media:



This is an ad(/public service announcement) for a serial on some TV channel known as "Star Gold". Note the sarson ke khet flowing in the breeze behind the girl - symbolizing her simplicity, purity and good old traditional Punjabi values! Note her longing but weary gaze at the airplane that brings her NRI groom and her passport to happiness! Note the airplane tearing the red wedding cloth into two, symbolizing the troubles ahead with obtaining that happiness passport! Too good!


And on a more political note, a sarson ke khet sighting in the news media, and on the Indo-Pak border no less! Or at least I'm assuming it's the Indo-Pak border (on which other border will you find sarsok ke khet leheraofying anyway?). Also note that the sarson ke khet seem to be on both sides of the border! I wonder on which side the mustard is greener (answer - NEITHER/BOTH)!


(TOI May 25th)

Spice sellers at Pul Banagah

More from my Delhi Anonymous set of photos ...

Jumping the Gun on Delhi's Light Rail and Monorail Plans

Following up on the Delhi Metro Phase 3 map I made a while ago (and also various metro maps using Google Maps), I've made another map - also on Google Maps - that incorporates planned Light Rail and Monorail projects as well. Click on the image below to go to the map.



The impetus for this map was the Delhi Chief Minister's recent declaration that monorail plans (and presumably light rail plans though the news reports did not mention her talking about light rail) have not been canceled but rather postponed till after the Commonwealth Games. I remembered seeing maps of proposed Light Rail and Monorail routes on the DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System) website, and used those to make the map above.

If anything, these light rail/monorail routes are even more speculative than the metro phase 3 maps in this and previous maps, but this map is a possible representation of what Delhi's multi-modal urban rail system might look like by 2015.

A couple of observations regarding Delhi's infrastructure projects in general and the proposed rail routes/systems:

By this point, it looks like the October 2010 Commonwealth Games are holding up as many infrastructure projects as they are instigating. I believe a while ago the CM said that major road-improvement projects have been shelved till after the games, and now these urban rail projects have as well, and I'm sure a whole set of other projects must have been shelved too. I guess it's really good that the games have provided the impetus for the projects that have been built and are under construction, but I'm now waiting for those projects to become up-and-running, as well as for the games to be over and done with, so we can concentrate on these further infrastructural projects. Hopefully the momentum of construction and development will not slow down after the games, because the city really needs a lot of work!

My other observation is about monorail vs light rail vs BRT (bus rapid transit) as the "light transit" supplement to metro. I'm becoming more and more skeptical about BRT, because there are so many vehicles on the roads in Delhi, and traffic is so undisciplined, that the roads really cannot support a rapid bus system, and people cannot realistically be expected to change their driving behavior anytime soon. Delhi needs three lanes for traffic, and for sure the roads need to be improved, standardized and the private bus system overhauled as is being done, but the BRT system just takes up too much space on already crowded roads.

What we need instead is a completely grade-separated light transit system that is totally removed from the road system, and can penetrate many parts of the city. To accomplish this, I think the only way to go is elevated. And for this reason, I think monorail might be an even better option than light rail. Monorail becomes advantageous over light rail only if the entire system is elevated, at which time it's smaller footprint both on the ground and visually in the air, as well as possibly greater maneuverability, make it appealing. So instead of a BRT system, another option is to concentrate on a monorail system criss-crossing the city. That will leave the roads free for improving the situation for public transport, private transport as well as for pedestrians.

Of course I'm not an expert on any kind of monorail vs light rail debate, but I feel that light rail (as well as BRT systems) work better when roads are emptier and space (for at-grade interchange etc) is more abundant than in Delhi. At the same time, Delhi roads are not as narrow as those of a city like London, making it possible to devise a good functional bus system that is not BRT. A widespread monorail system will free up the roads for improvement, whereas BRT will narrow the roads unnecessarily. These are just my views as of now, and they might change in light of more information, but this is MHO for now!

Barapullah Elevated Road and Khan Khana's Tomb

A short note to follow up on my post about construction work for the elevated road around the Barapullah bridge, in which my concluding remarks were that the separate governmental authorities need to really work together cohesively in Delhi to accommodate both conservation and development, and use Delhi's historic architecture as a unique facet of the city. Unfortunately, it looks like another section of the elevated road construction may indicate that examples of such collaboration are pretty hard to come by.

I'm talking about the stretch of the elevated road that passes in front of Khan Khana's Tomb, also in the Nizamuddin area. Khan Khana was one of the Navratans in Akbar's court, and is the same person as the poet Rahim of 2-line dohas fame.

Khan Khana's tomb hidden behind the under-construction pillars of the Barapullah Nullah elevated road


News articles from previous months state that part of the ASI's objection to the elevated road was that it will obstruct the view of Khan Khana's tomb from the adjacent Mathura Road. Due to this objection, the height of the elevated road was to be raised at this point, so that it passed over the view-line of the tomb from Mathura Road. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the under-construction pillars for the elevated road that lie to the east of Mathura Road, the side that the tomb is on, are right adjacent to Mathura Road, and block the view to the monument anyway. So despite the raised road height, the pillars themselves will obstruct the view of the tomb.

A closer view of the tomb and pillars. The billboard also blocks the view to the tomb, but that's a minor issue compared to the obstruction the pillars will cause


It could be argued that the proximity of the pillars to the road was required to span the road, but much larger spans are being bridged on this road itself, so the special situation of this location should definitely have warranted the extra expense of a larger span. On top of this, the pillar to the west of Mathura Road is pretty far from the road, for no apparent reason (see the panoramic photo below).

Panoramic view of the elevated road construction over Mathura Road. The pillars to the left (west) of the road are set back from Mathura Road when they needn't be, and the pillars to the right (east), which should have been set back from Mathura Road to maintain a clear view of Khan Khana's tomb (which is in the center background) from the road, aren't. Sad irony that is all too common here in Delhi (click image to enlarge)


Of course factors such as foundational needs could have dictated the placement of these pillars, but it seems really odd that the pillars east of Mathura Road couldn't have been shifted a few meters further east, thus not negating the effect that raising the elevated road is to accomplish.

To me, this seems to be just another example of bad, non-creative planning and lack of coordination.

Nila Gumbad in the News (too)

Since I wrote about Nila Gumbad and the dispute between the Railways and ASI in my previous blog post, I thought I'd go visit Nila Gumbad once again to see just what the situation was there, how close the railways line was to the monument etc. I've visited Nila Gumbad a few times before, but had always just seen it from the west - from the side of Humayun's Tomb.

The image below shows Nila Gumbad and the area around it, taken from close to the eastern pavilion that lies along the outer wall of Humayun's Tomb. The road that the ASI wants to reroute around Nila Gumbad currently passes between the monument and Humayun's Tomb. It's also very probable that in constructing the road, the arched wall connecting Nila Gumbad with Humayun's Tomb was broken, which the ASI probably wants to restore as well.

Nila Gumbad from Humayun's Tomb. The railway line is visible behind the gumbad, and the road that the ASI wants to reroute lies in front of the gumbad



On this visit I went around to the east of the monument, on the side of the railway line, and was quite shocked to see that the Nizamuddin railway station starts right next to the monument! So it's not just that the railway line passes very close to Nila Gumbad, but the railway station also begins right there. An approximately 5 meter wide area has been left around the monument, and then the railway property beings. The station and railway lines lie to the east of the monument, and there is some kind of railway storage area to the south of it. The panoramic shot below is taken from north of the monument, and shows the proximity of the station, railway line and monument.

Panoramic view showing the railway station and gumbad . Click to enlarge



As can be seen from the panoramic shot, a dirt path leads from in front (north) of the monument, which leads to a spot that is used as an informal crossing across the railway lines to the other side, i.e. towards Serai Kale Khan. I saw quite a few people using this path to cross the railway lines (there is no designated crossing on this side of the railways station). There is of course the issue of security vis-a-vis the railway station, since anyone can easily walk from here onto the platform.

But the closeness of the station really makes me see the railways point of view. There is hardly any space to construct a road around the monument on this side, and any changes to the railways station and storage area will require at least a bit of a re-think and re-design, though if they put their heads to it I'm sure they can get to a workaround (pun intended).

The board indicating the beginning of Nizamuddin railway station is clearly visible from the gumbad platform


A couple of shots of Nila Gumbad - showing the blue tile-work that give the monument it's name and make it unique

Barapullah In The News

An image of Barapullah I took sometime in 2009, showing its basic design and construction (and the ganda nala - dirty drain - flowing under it)


Barapullah is an early 17th century bridge close to Humayun's Tomb and Khan Khana's Tomb in the Nizamuddin area. The monument has been in the news recently as part of the ongoing tussle between the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) in Delhi on one side, and various other governmental bodies (such as the railways, Delhi metro, MCD, Commonwealth Games people etc) on the other, playing out an intra-government-department preservation-versus-development urban slug-fest. This fight has been brought to a head by the ongoing rush of infrastructural projects in Delhi in general, and Commonwealth Games related projects in particular.

As Delhi scrambles to complete these infrastructure projects before the October 2010 Commonwealth Games, the ASI is attempting to block those projects that come too close to the monuments under its protection (apparently no construction within 100 meters of a protected monument is allowed - a rule that obviously hasn't been followed too strictly for the past five decades since it's been in place).

The Barapullah Nala (drain/rivulet), which the Barapullah bridge spans at Nizamuddin and which snakes through part of south Delhi, is being used as a path for an elevated road that will connect the Ring Road near Serai Kale Khan with Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, and is intended to ease traffic flow between the stadium and the Commonwealth Games Village on the east bank of the Yamuna. Some of the pillars being erected for this elevated road are just about 10 meters away from Barapullah.

So the Barapullah example is being publicized in the media as the most egregious case of flouting the "no construction around monuments" rule. While this is definitely the case, I just wanted to bring to light the existing state of the Barapullah monument, current elevated road construction notwithstanding. Newspaper reports give the impression that Barapullah was a well-preserved monument, or at least a somewhat-preserved one, whose protected space is only now being violated by the elevated bridge construction. In reality Barapullah has been anything but well protected over the past decades. In fact, Barapullah is a unique example that indicates all that is wrong with the preservation process.

The first problem of course is that the nala which flows under the bridge has been an open sewer for a long time. However, what makes the current concern over the new elevated road construction so ironic is that a concrete bridge, parallel to Barapullah, has existed about 3 meters away from Barapullah for at least a couple of decades. I have a vague memory of using Barapullah itself as a thoroughfare road to cross over from Jangpura to Nizamuddin as a kid, but the parallel concrete bridge has existed for all my adult life. This parallel bridge is now used for heavy throughfare (it leads to the close-by Nizamuddin railway station and in fact a blue-line bus route terminates here), and Barapullah itself is the site for a makeshift daily market. The parallel bridge was probably constructed to divert vehicular traffic from Barapullah, but surely it needn't have been built just 3 meters away from it.

The approach to Barapullah, on which a makeshift market is now set up daily. This and all following images were taken on Jan 25, 2010


The decades old concrete bridge running parallel to Barapullah is visible behind the small turrets of Barapullah, and is just a few feet away from it



The images below clearly shows the proximity between the original Barapullah and the parallel concrete bridge. We can also see the sewage and garbage accumulated at the foot of Barapullah, as well as the high-tension electricity pylon built very close to Barapullah. The columns under construction in the central middle-distance are for the proposed elevated road. The main north-south line of the Indian railways passes close to Barapullah as well. All in all, not a very picturesque locale, to say the least, and with all kinds of preservation-law violations all around.

Parallel concrete bridge and Barapullah




Barapullah from the parallel bridge


Vendors on Barapullah with the under-construction elevated road's columns behind


I would estimate the closest column of the elevated road to be about 10 meters from Barapullah, while the existing parallel bridge is about 3 meters distant from Barapullah


Elevated road construction with Barapullah behind


A panoramic view of Barapullah, its parallel bridge and the elevated road construction. In the background on the right we can see the base of the roadway itself being set up over the completed columns. On the left, through the steel-mesh fencing, is visible the other side of the elevated road construction. Click to enlarge


The elevated road construction approaching Barapullah. The main north-south line of the Indian railways lies in front of it. This view is looking eastwards towards the Yamuna from Barapullah


Here are a couple of images of construction on the other side ... looking westwards, taken from the parallel bridge. The dome of Khan Khana's Tomb is visible in the background.





What does all this tell us?

As we can see, the setting of Barapullah is a real mess. It has a heavily trafficked parallel bridge mere feet away from it, a large electricity pylon close by, an open sewer passing under it, a major national railway line passing close by, and is used as a makeshift market space. It has no protected area around it, and is surrounded by garbage and dirt. The elevated road being constructed over it, with its columns a few meters away from Barapullah, will not so much ruin the setting of Barapullah as add to the misfortunes of the monument.

Barapullah is a unique example, because it has various factors acting against it. Usually with monuments in Delhi it is a simple case of real estate pressures that threaten them. If the government/ASI can acquire the land around the monument to preserve it, as in the case of Humayun's Tomb and Khan Khana's Tomb nearby, the monuments can begin to be protected, and if they can't get to the monuments in time, like in so many urban villages in Delhi, the monuments are encroached upon or right up to.

Being a bridge that spans a nala running through a major portion of south Delhi, Barapullah was never going to be encroached in that same way, but rather was going to be targeted by infrastructural entities that require a clear path through the city, like the high tension electricity pylons and now the elevated road. Being close to the Nizamuddin railway station, there was heavy traffic on Barapullah in the past, which is now diverted to the parallel bridge built next to it. Being on an open drain (once a tributary of the Yamuna on which temple ghats existed - and still do), there is always going to be untreated sewage lapping the base of the monument.

To me, the Barapullah situation encapsulates the dysfunction of our government (and of us). The slums and squatter settlements around the monument, which exist in the liminal space along the open drain and railway line, are a function of the lack of public housing, and are the reason why the makeshift market exists on the monument (though the market also serves the residential neighborhoods away from the immediate vicinity of the monument).

Apathy towards historic monuments and good planning practices in general, and apathy towards generating creative solutions to urban problems has led to the parallel road next to Barapullah, and the traffic mess in the area overall, created by the busy Nizamuddin railway station nearby. The railway station, which continues to grow in importance, has for long needed an efficient traffic scheme that also caters to the protection of Barapullah, but the various government bodies that are required to be involved for such a scheme to succeed seem unable to collaborate to design and implement it.

In the face of all this apathy, finding alternative and natural solutions to wastewater management, which these open drains in Delhi would seem ideally suited for, remains a pipe dream, which is the reason why the black water flowing under Barapullah continues to ooze by freely, adding to the vast sewer that is the Yamuna.


Where does the recent news-coverage fit into all this?

Apart from the fact that the newspapers should send someone down to check on the situation of Barapullah before indicating that the new elevated road is violating the space around it, the reporting on the feud between the ASI and other government bodies points to just why so much dysfunction occurs. The fact that the ASI has not been able to coordinate in the construction of the elevated road indicates the lack of collaboration and creative solution finding that has led to the construction of the parallel bridge next to Barapullah, and the traffic mess around the Nizamuddin railway station.

Another nearby example - the Nila Gumbad monument - also in the news recently, points to the same lack of collaboration and indeed blatant antagonism between government departments. This monument lies on the strip of land between the Humayun's Tomb compound and the same railway line that passes close to Barapullah. Humayun's Tomb is a World Heritage site, and the ASI wants to incorporate the Nila Gumbad monument, which is also a Mughal-era structure and an important example of Persian influence on Mughal architecture, into the overall Humayun's Tomb complex. To do this, they requested the railways to allow a narrow road that cuts through the space between Nila Gumbad and Humayun's Tomb to be re-routed around Nila Gumbad, and onto railway land. The railways of course have refused this request.

The recent news coverage has exposed not just current feuds between such government departments, but also shows us how such apathy and dysfunction have existed for so long. No one wants to help the other, and no one wants the trouble of getting to creative, collaborative and long-lasting solutions to problems. If I'm permitted to extend this argument, this is the case not just with the government, but with the attitude of the public as well.


Are there any signs of hope in all this?

I actually think that there might be hope in all this. The fact that long-dormant ASI rules are being brought up might indicate that there is enough (developmental, infrastructural) activity at an urban scale, and adequate media and public scrutiny being placed on that activity, to force governmental departments to make their disputes public and legal.

Hopefully, as large-scale infrastructure projects mushroom in Delhi, adequate public scrutiny will emerge, not just at the implementation stage but also at the planning stage.

In a place as rich in history and historical monuments as Delhi, the preservation and protection of such monuments will always be of prime importance, but a balance will have to be maintained between development and preservation. For example, it shouldn't be too hard for urban design and planning professionals to come up with a solution to the Barapullah situation that addresses the needs of connectivity and traffic around Nizamuddin railway station, the elevated road project, the nearby railway line, wastewater management and electricity distribution, while at the same time helping to protect and promote the Barapullah monument. All that is needed is for the actors (both governmental as well as private citizens) involved in preservation as well as development to work together in finding innovative solutions.

Easier said than done, but up to this stage of Delhi's recent history, neither preservation nor development have taken place to anything approaching a satisfactory degree. The few preservation successes that do exist in Delhi point to the fact that when there is a will to do it right, it's possible even here.

More Delhi Metro Maps

I made a few more maps of Delhi Metro routes on google maps. The first is of already active routes. The stations are already marked on the actual map itself - my map then just marks out the actual routes of the lines ... or lines of the routes, whichever way you understand it!

The second map includes Phase 2 routes currently under construction. The good thing about these google maps is that I can update them as more lines become operational.

The third is my speculative map of possible Phase 3 routes. My previous post about Phase 3 plans explains the speculative origins of this map (click here to go to that post), though a recent article in the Hindustan Times also supports these speculations. Again with this map I can keep updating the routes as we get to know more about them.
















I couldn't link anymore to the Hindustan Times article, but here's the map from that article.

Delhi Metro vs The World!

While working on these previous Delhi Metro posts, I began to wonder how the metro compared with other systems around the world, and found a few pretty interesting resources that I thought I should share.

It turns out that a whole lot of cities (far more than I had previously thought, for example who knew Tehran had such an extensive system!) have some sort of metro system, and there are cities with systems growing much more rapidly than Delhi's (see Beijing and Shanghai), and with much more "modern" - or at least more glitzy - infrastructure (apart from those two Chinese examples also see Madrid). Not that this necessarily reflects badly on Delhi Metro - maybe it's just that their objectives are different to those of other systems.

All these expanding systems have matched or will soon match, and in some cases will soon supersede (in length and ridership) the existing "superstars" of metro systems such as the Tokyo, New York, London, Paris, Moscow, Hong Kong, Seoul and Mexico City systems.

Apart from the pages on individual metro systems linked to above, wikipedia also has some interesting lists such as:

List of metro systems and Metro systems by annual passenger rides.

Treehugger also has some fun stuff, such as slideshows of The world's 7 greatest subways, The world's most impressive subway maps, and subway systems from around the world drawn at the same scale (including Delhi Metro!).

And I couldn't not include this great slideshow of the World's best alternative subway maps!

There are a ton of other resources available online (and offline), but these are what I came across in the past few days!