Walled Jaipur fast losing its ‘Pink’ charm

JAIPUR: The Jaipur Walled City that has been placed on the tentative list for World Heritage City, UNESCO for its outstanding value, might just be on its way to losing its universal appeal.
With the facades losing their uniform pink, rampant construction and architectural renovations while the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) sits over the facade control guidelines, the 18th century city, is well on its way to being just another chaotic old city.
Ironically, even while there is a handy by-laws rule book to follow, the JMC governing committee has turned a blind eye to the character of the Walled city being metamorphosed over the years. There is rampant construction which in places is beyond three floors and experts even doubt if the building foundation is capable of taking so much load. The supposedly uniform pink is fragmented at places with frescoed havelis, in some the windows and ‘Jharokhas’ have been blatantly altered, breaking the uniform pink.
But the icing on the cake is the Jaipur Development Authority’s (JDA) three-storied international level tourist centre, Chaura Rasta in the Walled City area and the government tourist facilitation new building that itself does not adhere to the setback guidelines. Both JDA and the JMC that are supposed to check and regulate aberrations today are indirectly hand in glove with the residents and traders in the walled city. The governing committee JMC and the Heritage Development Committee (HDC) of the state today are absolutely defunct.
In 2009, an architectural control guideline was handed by conservation architects to the JMC and JDA with an aim to provide facade control guidelines to help in countering the loss of architectural style and to contribute to the revitalization of the precinct through heritage conservation and protection. But JMC officials are totally unaware of it.
“I have instructed work to be stopped at the building with a green curtain. But yes construction work goes on illegally without permission. I am aware that the UNESCO feedback on draft dossier is due in November end. I will get the irregulations’ checked and get architectural control guidelines in place,” said Ashok Lahoty, Jaipur Mayor.