TOI : Government wants future buildings to pay attention : Oct 22,2007
Looks matter
Government wants future buildings in this ugly concrete jungle called Mumbai to pay attention to aesthetics
RAVIKIRAN DESHMUKH
One of the greatest tragedies of this otherwise wonderful city is that beautiful architecture went with the British. Can you name any aesthetically pleasing structure built in Mumbai after Independence? Chances are you will not be able to do so because this city is an ugly concrete jungle.
The only saving grace are some buildings built before Independence under British patronage. If you want an example of the old and the new, think of the BMC headquarters opposite CST and the new administrative building near Mantralaya, the state secretariat.
But the state government wants to change this. It has decided that the financial capital of the country deserves to look like one and could do with better architecture.
So a few days ago, special secretary (general admin department) Sanjay Ubale issued an order that all new government buildings costing over Rs 5 crore should be aesthetically pleasing to the eye from the outside and inside. Ubale is responsible for the Mumbai Makeover Plan that aims to turn the city into a world-class metropolis.
If need be, officials will be allowed to spend a little more to ensure citizens will no longer have to put up with ugly structures, which thrived because projects were executed keeping in mind constraints such as current construction practices, project viability, availability of funds, available time for construction and traffic constraints. If need be, the government has told its agencies, architectural plans can be vetted by panels of experts since the definition of aesthetics and beauty will vary depending on the area where the project is based. This will ensure that the additional expenditure is justified and well-spent.
The diktat will not apply to ongoing projects but those for which the tender process is yet to begin. So if you cringe while looking at the existing flyovers, the new ones might be a little more easy on the eyes.
The diktat will be applicable to all government, semi-government and civic bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). These are BMC, commissioner of police, Mumbai Port Trust, MMRDA, collector of Mumbai city and suburbs, MSRDC, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, BEST, MHADA, SRA, all municipal corporations and councils in the MMR, chief executive officers of the Thane and Raigad zilla parishads, collectors of Thane and Raigad.
WHY CANT OUR MODERN STRUCTURES … Mantralaya, built in 1955
… LOOK MORE LIKE THIS? The BMC building, designed in the Gothic Revival style, built by the British in 1893
Publication:Mumbai Mirror; Date:Oct 22, 2007; Section:City; Page Number:2
URL : http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=TU1JUi8yMDA3LzEwLzIyI0FyMDAyMDA=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom