Incentive scheme for restoration of privately-owned heritage properties in Ahmedabad finds few takers

Seven years after the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation AMC launched a scheme offering incentives for restoration and renovation of 2,692 privately-owned and institutional buildings recognised for their heritage value in the walled city, the owners of only 76 such structures have come forward to avail of it so far, an official said.The administration says this tepid response could be due to lack of awareness and the time taken for the completion of paperwork required for the process.

Seven years after the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) launched a scheme offering incentives for restoration and renovation of 2,692 privately-owned and institutional buildings recognised for their heritage value in the walled city, the owners of only 76 such structures have come forward to avail of it so far, an official said.

The administration says this tepid response could be due to lack of awareness and the time taken for the completion of paperwork required for the process. These structures, a majority of which are residential buildings, give a distinct character to Ahmedabad as an urban settlement that has survived continuously for six centuries, and helped the city gain recognition by UNESCO in 2017. The old walled city of Ahmedabad is the first city in the country to be inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage City list for 2017.

''The AMC conducted a survey between 2011-14 to select locally significant social and architectural buildings. Its purpose was to help retain and nourish the cultural values in the old city and help Ahmedabad find a place in tentative world heritage nomination,'' said Ashish Trambadia, Director of the civic body's Heritage Department. It was also the first time in India that private buildings were identified to be protected by building regulations, and mechanisms were created for their protection, he said.

These 2,692 structures, including 449 institutional and the remaining privately-owned ones, were identified and graded on the basis of their ''heritage value'' and a decision was taken to offer transferable development rights (TDR) to the owners as an incentive for retention of the heritage value of the structure and make the process viable for them, he said.

''Since the TDR policy came out in 2015-2016, and a single-window system came into being in 2019, the AMC received 76 applications from the owners of these structures,'' he said.

He attributed the lower turnout to various factors, including lack of awareness, time taken in completing paperwork of ownership of properties transferred from generation to generation, and reaching out to the actual owners who have rented them, or those who have retained the buildings but moved elsewhere to live.

To address the issue of lack of awareness, the AMC installed round plaques outside the buildings, identifying them on the basis of their grades and giving the owners the pride that they are residents of the world heritage city, Trambadia said.

''Restoration is not the kind of activity which everybody envisages every year. There has to be a time gap of 15-20 years for any major restoration work,'' he said.

To avail of the TDR, the private owners have to approach the AMC for permission for restoration. The experts of the city civic body guide them on what they can and cannot do as per the heritage value of the structure.

''We don't want the buildings to be frozen in time. There has to be a certain upgrade, there has to be better toilets, kitchens, but without losing the heritage value. So we do a balance while the permission process is going on,'' he said.

The financial incentive offered is 50 per cent of the land value of the total built-up area of the building for grade-1 and 2A structures. For other grades, it is 30 per cent, little less based on their architectural values, he said.

While not many have been forthcoming to avail of the incentive, there are people who are passionate about the heritage buildings they own and took up the restoration work in earnest.

Eighty nine-year-old Suresh Shah moved into his property three months after India gained Independence. Two years ago, he invested lakhs of rupees to get it renovated without compromising on its heritage value.

He has applied for the support from the civic body, but what matters to him more is the emotional value and memories that are associated with the property, which he now wants to name after his mother.

''I want to live in the old city area and in this very house in which I moved in November of 1947, three months after India got Independence. As long as I am here, I do not want to leave this property. This is my desire. I love heritage property,'' Shah said.

Gaurang Vyas, the owner of a temple-cum-residential building dating back to three-four centuries, is eager to get his building restored, but faces technical challenge due to a damaged adjoining structure vacated by the owners.

''I am well aware of the financial incentive being offered by the AMC. But there is a technical problem with the building I own. The adjoining house has caused my building to bend. Unless the AMC issues notice to the neighbouring building, the restoration of our structure will not be possible,'' he said.

There are also those like Shivangi Vala who do not know much about the scheme.

''I have stayed here for 50 years. I do not know about the incentive. We believe the building is risky. Some part was constructed anew, but it needs to be restored,'' she said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)