Raj govt shelves IPD tower at J K Lon, cites Unesco norms

Jaipur: Rajasthan govt will not construct an IPD tower inside J K Lon Hospital—the state-run paediatric hospital on JLN Marg—after the facility was flagged as being within the buffer zone of Unesco World Heritage area. Chief Town Planner of local selg govt (LSG) department, Preeti Gupta, said any construction within the hospital premises will comply with heritage regulations."No big tower will be constructed within the compound of J K Lon Hospital. Whatever facilities are added inside the compound will comply with the heritage norms," Gupta stated.The chief town planner also said the state govt is set to bring in several reforms in the next couple of months to preserve the heritage of Walled City and other historical structures in Jaipur.On Feb 14, TOI reported that conservation specialists claimed that as per heritage norms the state govt could not construct a huge tower inside the J K Lon Hospital as it fell under the buffer zone of the UNESCO world heritage site. The IPD Tower was announced in the state Budget on Feb 11.Explaining the norms, a senior town planner said the stretch of JLN Marg was considered to be the buffer zone of the world heritage site. The rule stated any compound along this stretch with JLN Marg as the front side also formed part of the buffer zone."The IPD Tower inside the SMS compound is an exception. Here, the road connecting JLN Marg with Suchana Bhawan Tiraha on Tonk Road is considered as the front side of the compound, with the Dhanwantary Block gate as the main gate. The previous govt took advantage of this and went ahead with the construction," a town planner said.