NDMC Archives - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

The University of Delhi (DU) has come face to face with the Delhi Government with regards to the construction of a 39 storey private building in North Campus.

As per a report by the India Times, DU has written a letter to the Centre, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, demanding to stop the construction work immediately.

In the year 2001, The Delhi Government had acquired three acres of land from the Ministry of Defence to construct the metro line. Only an acre was used and the rest two acres were sold to a private builder in order to build a 39 storey building.The University believes that the construction of private property would lead to great repercussions for the varsity as it threatens its educational space and can also pose a threat in terms of safety.

In 2018, varsity had written to the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Housing, lead by Mr. Durga Shankar Mishra requesting for restraining North DMC from granting any sanction to the Group Housing Projects of Young Builders Private Limited, near Vishwavidyalaya Metro station.

Delhi University’s Officer on Special Duty Mr. Vipin Tiwari talked to India Today, about this move. He stated that he had witnessed the construction of the building behind the metro station.

According to him, this poses a great threat to the University space as it’s a private building and is very close to not only four girl’s hostels but also the office of the Lieutenant Governor and the DRDO office. The construction was not stopped despite various complains, not only that it will also be the tallest building around if constructed. It poses a great threat as this a high-security zone.

He also added that this also violates the three points of Clause 11 of the Delhi Master Plan 2021. Various political parties also showed their dissent against this move. The Mayor of Delhi Mr. Avatar Singh responded by stating that a letter requesting the clearing of doubts raised has been sent to the Governor. “All at being fault shall be persecuted”, he added.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Stephen Mathew

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As the world celebrates May as ‘Gift from Gardens’ month, here’s looking a how Delhi has adopted a different method of gardening and how you can make your own garden in your homes.

Delhi has been choking for pure and fresh air to breathe. Over the last few years, excessive construction and overburdening of vehicles on the roads have led to Delhi NCR becoming one of the most polluted regions in the world. Thus, looking out for new and innovative methods is the need of the hour.

Keeping this in mind, the Horticulture Department of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has begun the development and expansion of vertical gardens in the city with its debut dated almost a year and a half back.

If you have looked around while your travel on the city, you must have found this beautiful plush of greenery wrapped around the pillars of Delhi Metro Network or beautifying the stretch of the new Yamuna Expressway.

Cities worldwide not only are facing the concern of pollution and warming but also space congestion. In a scenario like this, vertical gardens or “living walls” as they are called, have come out as a blessing for they cancel out all of these issues. Massive construction has led to considerable damage to the green spaces in the city. These vertical gardens not only occupy any landscape at all, but are cost-effective, too, as they are cheap to develop and maintain with plants like Asparagus, Jade plant, Syngonium, etc. and are seasonally grown in plastic containers.

This is what the NDMC is doing to enhance the quality of the air of the city and add to its greenery. But there’s a lot more that people themselves can do in their individual capacity.

Rooftop gardening is one of them. Space crunch in the city restricts people from owning gardens but they can always develop one on their own roofs. Due to excessive heat in the summers, the variety becomes limited but plants like Water Lilies, among others, grow well despite the temperature.

Gardens, apart from purifying the air, also give relaxation from the intolerable heat. The various products they provide are just an added bonus.

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t celebrate this month by doing your bit in developing a garden of your own!

Image Credits: India Times

Shreya Agrawal

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