A Study Of The City Of Jaipur Environmental Sciences Essay

The city of Jaipur, nestled in the rugged hills of Aravallis, popularly known as the “Pink City”, was founded in 1727 AD by one of the greatest rulers of the Kachhawaha clan, the astronomer king Sawai Jai Singh. The pink colour was used at the time of making to create an impression of red sandstone buildings of Mughal cities – and repainted in 1876, during the visit of the Prince of Wales. The city is remarkable among pre-modern Indian cities for the width and regularity of its streets which are laid out into sectors separated by broad streets.

Jaipur which means the city of victory was built exactly 273 years back and is 262 km by road from Delhi (Capital of India). A strong wall encircles the old city and even today has a suggestion of formidable strength; its function of protecting all within is obvious.  The plains of Rajasthan of which Jaipur is the capital once thundered and echoed with clash of swords and the drums of wars, Built in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh-II, Jaipur was the first planned city of its time (the earlier planned city in northern India having been built near Taxila sometime in the 2nd century BC).

Source: www.mapsofindia.com

Jaipur was planned by Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya, a Bengali architect, who gave shape to the ideas of Sawai Jai Singh in a grid system with wide straight avenues, roads, streets and lanes and uniform rows of shops on either side of the main bazaars, all arranged in nine rectangular city sectors (chokris), planned on the basis of principles of `Shilp Shastra`. The city itself is an attractive creation worthy of universal admiration.

The population size of the city is 2.5 million, as per Census 2001. The Municipal body was recognised in 1926 and a Municipal Act was in place in1929. Recently, it achieved the status of a Municipal Corporation and its jurisdiction spread over 64.75 sq.kms. The old city occupies 9.8 sq.kms. The average density of population works out at 38610 persons per sq km. amongst all the mega cities of the country, Jaipur ranks 11th with a total population of 2.3 million. It is one of the fastest growing mega cities of the country with an annual average growth rate of 4.5% whereas the national urban growth rate is only 2% as per Census of India, 2001. With its current growth trend, it is likely to supercede many other cities. Jaipur is thus a vibrant city.

Earlier it was Urban Improvement Trust (UIT) who deals with the planning and maintenance part of the city but now it is Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) who deals with the planning and maintenance of the city.

Historical Background: –

This section describes the spatial growth of Jaipur city since the time it was founded. The spatial growth pattern of Jaipur city is divided into four distinct phases which will enable us to understand the growth of city phase wise about the growth trends better.

Phase I: 1727-1850 AD : – The city was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727 A.D, is one of the few planned cities of its times based on the principles of ancient town planning doctrine of Shilpa Shastra. The city conformed to the traditional walled city concept with the encircling wall and 9 entry gates. Jaipur walled city evolved as a grid-iron plan with the main road running almost east west along the ridge in the centre and the palace complex at the core. The buildings were built following a strict Architectural guideline. By 1734, the main markets of the town including various bazaars had been built.

Hawa Mahal, the principle street of Jaipur, c. 1875Phase II: 1850-1930: – During this phase, the city grew out of the confines of the walled city. The establishment of railway line in 1868 A.D fueled the growth of the city. During the Rajasthan Famine of 1868-69, Ramniwas Garden was constructed as part of the famine relief work. Modern water Works and Gas Works for lighting the city streets was also established during this phase.

Phase III: 1930-1970 : – In 1930s, five development schemes, Fateh Tiba, area south of Ramniwas Bagh, Ashok Nagar, New Colony in Jalu pura and Bani Park commonly known as A, B, C, D, E respectively were conceived to provide residential plots, land for public institutions and other amenities for the increasing population. Civil Lines area was developed primarily to house the Senior Government servants. Mirza Ismail (MI) Road was constructed as a ceremonial highway from Ajmer Road to Moti Doongri Road in the early 1940s.

The Rajasthan University was inaugurated in 1947 thereby opening opportunities for the southward growth of the city. A sudden increase of population after partition was seen that was mainly due to the influx of refugees during this time. Jaipur then became the capital of Rajasthan leading to further attraction of administrative and economic activities. These factors led to increased development of residential areas to cater to the growing population. For instance, Bapu Nagar and Gandhi Nagar residential areas were developed towards south of the city. Development towards the Northwest of the city took place in the early sixties with the establishment of the Jhotwara Industrial Estate.

Phase IV: Post 1970s: – During the last 3 decades, the major growth direction has remained largely the same i.e., towards the southwest and northwest of the city.

Spatial Integration of Jaipur city: –

The spatial integration of Jaipur city will be determined by the city land use assessment method & changes in it can be analysed and the spatial planning tools & techniques, which are responsible for the development also can be analysed. The land use assessment method will analyse the development and growth patterns in past as well as future direction of it. The land use of Jaipur city in 1971 has been compared with the existing land use in 1991 to find out the spatial analysis.

Figure: 4.2.1

Landuse, 1971 Landuse, 1991

Source: Census of India, 1971 and 1991

Due to the lack of latest landuse data of city, the assessment is confined uptil the year 1991. There is a very sharp change in the some land uses like residential, public and semi public, and industrial sectors etc. The area under residential increased upto 62% in year 1991 while it was 51% in year 1971, under public & semi public is decreased 17 % (1971) to 8 % (1991), also under circulation decreased from 17% (1971) to 12% (1991) but the area under governmental uses remains constant. In case of recreational area, also further decreased by 1% from 1971 to 1991, the area under industrial (7% to 10%) and commercial has an increase of 1%.

JDA Land use constituentsThere are also 3 different constitutes in the Jaipur city named as: – Walled city, the rest of Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC), and rest of Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) area. The largest proportion of all the developed land uses is concentrated in the JMC area and large proportion of undeveloped land is in the rest of JDA area [1] .

In order to achieve spatial & planned development, JDA prepared two master plans for the JDA area till now as a spatial planning tool.

1st Master Plan (1971-1991): – The first master plan for 1971-1991 came into effect in May, 1976. It was prepared by the Town Planning Department under the Rajasthan Urban Improvement Act (1959). The master plan defines the objectives of the comprehensive development of the city along new 125 revenue villages & Jaipur was proposed to be developed as major tourist destination for the horizon of 1991 and later it was extended for next year’s i.e.: till 1996. The proposals were made as follows:

The Walled city Area: – The population density was recommended as 700 persons per ha and other proposals were like tourist facilities, five star hotel in the Jal Mahal Lake & shift of some industries from walled city area.

Jaipur Nagar Nigam Area (JNN): – The proposals were prepared for the additional areas in the periphery along the existing urbanized area and the proposals were prepared for residential, commercial, industrial and parks & open spaces. There were also detailed proposals to develop whole sale markets & industrial development by size, nature of the industries.

Land use Analysis – Existing vs ProposedThe proposals given in 1st master plan were not attained in various sectors. The variations in the proposed land use and actual land use which came up later can be seen. The area under residential sector was proposed as 52% but it increased up to 62% and there were decrease in the area under other sectors.

There were other proposals which were proposed but the actual situation was totally different from them, are as followed:

Due to the development of walled city as a CBD, the attraction of people to the central area increased traffic and congestion and pressure on CBD as well.

The colonies and housing societies on outer skirts of the Jaipur city developed by private developers were lacking in proper infrastructure, amenities and the quality of services as RHB and UIT could not meet the housing stock. The concept of `working-living area relationship` and `Residential Area` couldn`t maintained in the city due to this fragmented development by private housing co-operative societies.

Some of the commercial schemes could not implement due to the lack of suitable land acquisition and non-acceptance of organised commercial activities in the city.

The industrial development could not attain according to the proposals due to land acquisition and presence of other activities like forest, redevelopment schemes etc.

The principle of hierarchical development of residential, commercial and other facilities couldn`t achieved as per the plan due to haphazard development, violation of rules and regulations etc.

The other proposals for facilities like medical, educational, recreational and tourism were also under same situation due to lack of land availability and acquisition, shift in the proposed locations etc.

The next actions such as preparation of various plans like zonal development plans, functional plans, zoning and building regulations etc could not finalize due to the lack of successful implementation of 1st Master Plan.

The analysis shows that there are serious gaps in the proposed and actual situation during year 1991. The reason for the wide gaps between them is a total violation of the proposals. There are several main factors which were also responsible for the non-implementation of the plan, are indicated below:

Non availability of land with the Local Authorities (JDA and UIT)

Lack of coordination among various departments in the city especially in case of UIT. As a result, it opened the doors for private co-operative societies and developers to handle the situation.

Time delays in planning process like land acquisition by JDA due to the provisions of agricultural land conversion rules, ULCAR Act, 1976 etc.

After the analysis, calculation of deviations between actual and proposed plan, JDA prepared the 2nd Master plan, to cover all those wide gaps and to achieve sustainable development of the Jaipur city for the horizon of 2011.

2nd Master Plan (1991-2011): – The second Master Plan was conceived for 2011 for the Jaipur region and now it’s under proposals for the revision for the year 2021. This Master Plan was prepared in 1995 and came into force from 1998 under JDA Act, 1982. It covers the entire Jaipur region including new 6 satellite towns along with the Jaipur city. The total area of the Jaipur region is 1464 sq.km. & the proposal of inner towns between Jaipur city and satellite tows to develop to accommodate the total projected population 42.2 lakhs by 2011. The proposed Master Plan proposed Jaipur region into 3 categories as: – Rural Area, Ecological Zone and Urbanizable Area.

Proposed Master Plan- 2011

Spatial Strategies for walled city: –

The second master plan has come up with strategies for each of the constituents of the JDA region. The spatial strategies for Walled City are described as:-

No permission to be given for commercial complexes, shopping areas etc inside the walled city area.

New building bylaws proposed for the walled city to reduce the density.

Shifting of wholesale activities, traffic generating and intensive activities to areas outside.

Parking would not be allowed inside the walled city on the main roads.

The other tools and techniques like Rajasthan (State) Building Bye Laws, Rajasthan Urban Housing and Habitat Policy- 2006 and Rajasthan Conservation and Heritage Byelaws, 1961 etc were used in the spatial development of the Pink city.

After the migration of people to suburbs/outer skirts which can be explained as a spatial contiguity, the concept of satellite towns becomes a spatial planning tools for the local authorities to integrate the spatial development of the `Pink City`. According to Master Development Plan-2011, there were 32 urban nodes which were catering the urban functions so 12 of them which were under Jaipur Urbanizable area, identified and selected as Satellite Towns and Inner Ring Towns to accommodate future population (7 Lakhs as per MDP-2011). These towns will function as urban nodes of Jaipur region and primarily characterised by principle activity like commercial, industrial and recreational etc.

The new spatial planning tools and techniques like Zoning codes by introduction of Zonal Development Plans to achieve the most appropriate development of land in the context of development policies and land use proposals given in the Master Development Plan, Land use plan -2011 for Jaipur region (Urbanizable area).

After the land use assessment of Jaipur city, the following section describes the aspects like housing, traffic & transportation and heritage & management to explore problems/issues arise in these aspects and other spatial planning tools & techniques which were used in the spatial development of the city.

Housing: –

This section assesses the housing situation of the city & specifically in the walled city (Old Area) to understand the spatial integration in terms of housing. If we look at the housing scenario of the city, the number of houseless population has increased in the past ten years thereby indicating a housing gap. The data given in table below shows the clear picture as:

Table: 4.2.2 Housing Scenario

Source: Census of India, 2001. JMC

Housing Stock: – On the total housing stock the most predominant use is residential (75%) of the total houses and others are like shops and offices (15%), rest have very minor proportion in account of total proportion. The occupancy rate in the city was 7.2 % in the past decade while it has been seen that it was more in walled city and in the other areas of municipal boundary while it was less in JDA area. But now in days, occupancy rate is high at the periphery of the city because of migration of people from the inner area to the new area, townships, new developments etc. There are various factors behind the migration are like easier availability of land at periphery with different options like big plots, location etc, too much congestion in the walled city area and municipal area, land prices are very high in the central core etc.

Housing Type & Condition: – The city overall has a relatively flatted development but within the walled city, only G+2 structures are predominant. Now in days multi-storeyed buildings can be seen in JMC and other areas of JDA. The housing conditions vary within the city. A qualitative analysis of housing conditions has been done for the walled city is described as:

Table: 4.2.3 Housing Condition

Source: CDP, Jaipur

Source: CDP, JaipurHousing Supply: -The housing development in the whole city can be categorised into 4 type’s i.e. traditional housing, Formal housing and informal housing. The housing in the walled city is a type of traditional housing. The houses are around 100 to 150 years old and are built in typical Rajasthani architecture style. Mostly, the houses are two storied with decorated doors, windows and chhajjas (projections) etc.

Housing Stakeholders: – The total housing supply in the Jaipur is through six sources : – JDA [2] , Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB), Private Developers, the Co-Operative societies, the traditional houses in the walled city & the slums (kacchi bastis). In case of walled city, most of the houses come under traditional housing. The proportion of housing supply provided by all of these sources is given below as:

New Developments in Housing: – In the light of Rajasthan Urban Housing and Habitat Policy- 2006 [3] , there are new developments which can be categorized as: group housing schemes, redevelopment schemes, flats of RHB and new townships at the outskirts of the city.

In case of walled city, redevelopment schemes are taking place, and under these schemes individuals are allotted plots of an area 40 sq.mts [4] while JMC and JDA are responsible for the implementation process of redevelopment schemes.

Problems/Issues in Walled City: – There are various problems/issues related with housing in the walled city which are major concern for the authorities. These are listed as:

Most of the houses are very old like built around 100-150 years back and they are in dilapidated condition especially in the market area which are occupied by lower income groups (LIG`s).

Most of the area of walled city is facing poor infrastructure facilities.

Due to high population density, the houses are overcrowded with families’ leads to unhealthy living environment.

Most of the housed occupied by Middle Income groups (MIG`s) and Lower Income groups (LIG`s) have no open spaces, houses are semi-pucca or kaccha, some of them are without toilets and electricity connections.

Water supply is only through public taps or old wells only and the ventilation in the houses in not adequate.

Missing of unique character (Pink Colour) in new housing developments of the `Pink City`.

The housing problems/issues are also becoming prime concern in spatial integration of the Jaipur city especially in the walled city. The increase in housing demand and lack in housing supply by local authorities, use of spatial planning tools such as redevelopment/regeneration schemes in old (Walled city) areas, neighbourhood planning on the outer skirts through private developers, incoming development of slums (Kacchi Bastis) etc are creating a big threat for the spatial character of the `Pink City`.

Traffic and Transportation: –

Traffic and transpiration is also an integral part of the spatial integration of the Jaipur city. As Jaipur is one of the metropolitan cities in the country with a population of over 2.5 million and is observed to be growing at very fast rate. Besides being the capital city of Rajasthan, the city of Jaipur is a major tourist centre in the country as well. Major portions of economic activities of the city are located in walled city area, spreading over 9.8 sq.kms. This area is, besides having heavily concentrated activities, a very important tourist centre and attracts tourists from all over the globe. The economic activities in the form of wholesale trade, commerce, household industries, administration and tourist spots generate heavy traffic to and from these areas. The limited road space of the area is congested with vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The shopkeepers and vendors also occupy the sidewalks and carriageways. Consequently the traffic in these areas is facing acute congestion, bottlenecks and hazards. The environmental pollution as well as physical and visual intrusions are also some of the other problems increasingly faced by the residents and the visitors to the area. In case of transportation facilities, only bus service is operated throughout the city by public sector and the other modes are like private taxis, auto-rickshaws, animal driven vehicles, rickshaws, private mini buses etc are used as transport facility.

The situation of parking in the walled city is also in haphazard condition. Parking demand in the walled city area is met mainly by roadside parking along all major roads and there is no major off-street parking facility. With the ever increasing parking demand the vehicles are parked in two rows on carriageways. Footpaths are also filled with parked vehicles. While there is heavy demand for parking, the limited enforcement of regulatory measures fails to control and manage the parking problems. The following pictures will describe the nature and extent of traffic, parking problems in the walled city.

On street parking on the major roads of walled city

Animals are very common for transportation of goods on Jaipur roads causes congestion & slow traffic

Street Hawkers/vendors along the roads in the walled city

Mixed Traffic

Problems/Issues in the Walled City: –

The pressure on the roads of walled city can be easily observed due to encroachments by on street parking, hawkers/vendors and excessive commercialization and mixed vehicular movement.

There is a lack of proper traffic management system in the old area as well as in the whole city like no regulations on mixed traffic, no maintenance of signals & junctions, animals are moving freely in the daily traffic etc.

The public transport facility is also inadequate due to insufficient number of vehicles like buses etc. for transportation.

Parking is also a major issue in the walled city due to lack of parking spaces and due to this, leads to other issues like on street parking, encroachments on the roads etc.

The through traffic of National Highway (NH) -8 is creating problems in the city in terms of congestion, air & noise pollution,

The traffic and transportation system in the Jaipur city is still facing number of problems although various departments like JDA, PWD, Transport Department, RSRTC, JNN etc are in coordination with each other to solve the issues/problems related with it. The proposals in the layout of grid-iron pattern development as ring roads, bye-pass, Mass Rapid Transportation System (MRTS), terminals for buses and trucks etc are still in pipeline but Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) under JNNURM scheme as a spatial planning tool is a main achievement to the date to address the traffic problems in the city.

Heritage & Management: –

Heritage is a word which expresses the character of Jaipur city. The city is known as the `Pink City` which is very rich & famous for its heritage culture. Due to rapid urbanisation, the new developments are coming but still the city has fascinating heritage from its earlier times.

In Jaipur, all the historical buildings are described into three classes as: royal palaces & forts, temples and museums. Each heritage building has different history and different characteristics. Most of the buildings are situated in the walled city area and others are in municipal area. The historical Buildings which are situated in the city are as:

Walled City Area

JMC Area

City Palace Complex

Amber Fort

Hawa Mahal

Amber Palace

Jantar Mantar

Jaigarh

Nawab Sahib Ki Haveli

Nahargarh

Swargasuli or Isar Lat

Motidoongari

Maharani Ki Chhatri

Jal Mahal Place

Ram Niwas Garden

Rambagh Place

Albert Hall

Gaitor

Jagat Shiromani Temple

Ghat Ki Guni

So, there are 8 buildings which are situated in the walled city and 10 buildings are in JMC area. There are other historical components which has unique values. These includes like bazaars (Commercial area), water tanks, small temples and chabutras. These are 100-250 years old built. Besides this, JDA has identified total 300 historic buildings into the various parts in the walled city and categorized into different levels as per their area.

The existing situation of the walled city is assessed on the basis of current status and condition of these historical monuments. The JMC bye laws are violated and traditional planning system has no use in the present time in the walled city. An existing situation analysis [5] shows it very clearly as follows:

The Rajasthan Conservation and Heritage Byelaws, 1961 also guides about the conservation of historical properties and many agencies (Governmental, Private and NGO`s) are working towards conservation of those historical monuments but somehow these rules and regulations are also violated which threats to the unique historical character of the `Pink City`.

Problems/Issues in the Walled City: –

Due to excessive commercialization, it leads to the major traffic congestion in the streets and the irregular construction of shops in streets; Chhajas (projections) in front of shops have disturbed the fabric of historical streets.

The encroachments on streets also spoiled the character & image of streets and led to congestion in traffic movement too.

Due to lack of sufficient parking spaces, the on street parking becomes a major problem for the loss of cultural fabric of street & traffic congestion.

The maintenance and Lack of infrastructure facilities like water supply, sewerage, garbage collection and solid waste management in the inner streets also creates unhealthy environment which may disturb the character of inner areas.

Due to the lack of rules and regulations for heritage walkways, they have lost their historical image.

The maintenance of heritage buildings under private ownership is not adequate, and some of them have converted into modern buildings.

The conservation rules & regulations are violated in the walled city due to lack of co-ordination among different departments.

Heritage buildings are treated as only commercial spots without the proper conservation and protection.

As `Pink City` is famous for its rich heritage and historical background but due to lack of attention and awareness by local authorities and people, it is facing number of problems related to its heritage. Somehow planning officials included the conservation of historical monuments and developments of significant tourist spots as a planning policy and principle in the Landuse Plan-2011 but still there are other number of concerns regarding the heritage and cultural character of the city which should be addressed as well.