IIT Roorkee study flags site-specific risks to Delhi monuments

Delhi’s protected monuments are subject to the same 100-metre prohibited zone and 200-metre regulated zone, even though the pressures around them differ sharply.

An IIT Roorkee study of nine centrally protected monuments found that infrastructure around the Nizamuddin Basti group of monuments is affecting the Barapullah Drain, an old tributary the study identifies as a key natural feature of the site. The researchers classified the impact of large-scale works, including a flyover, as long-term and irreversible. They also identified encroachment and changes in surrounding land use as high-priority risks.

At Uggar Sain’s Baoli, the study identified excavation for building foundations as a continuing risk to its water-retaining structure. It said high-rise construction could also alter views of the monument. Hauz Khas is already densely built around its protected area, with restaurants and bars among the nearby commercial uses.

Only four of the nine monuments studied have notified heritage bye-laws; the rest remain at the draft or consultation stage. The researchers proposed a value-based matrix to assess a threat’s likelihood, duration and reversibility, and recommended that controls such as building-height and facade rules respond to each site’s setting.