Can a town be overweight? Shimla, capital of Himachal Pradesh, has managed to become just that. The load, as always, has been piling on over the years. In this case, storey by storey.
The erstwhile summer capital of the British empire, once hailed as the Queen of Hill Stations, has now become an outsized, uncontrolled monster in urgent need of therapy.
Recent geological studies indicate that roughly 25 per cent of the old town is in the sinking zone, and unless improvements are made in the drainage and sewerage systems of the upper reaches, more could go under. Slopes have become overloaded, and buildings in several heavily crowded localities in the central part of the town have become unsafe as they fall in the sinking zone.
A development plan drawn up by the Himachal Pradesh town and country planning department (currently awaiting Cabinet approval) minces no words on the present ailments of Shimla. The town, which was built for a population of just 25,000 in the early 20th century, today houses close to three lakh people. And, as against the recommended density of 450 persons per square hectare in hill settlements, the town’s localities have densities ranging from 2,500 to 3,500 persons for the same area.
Though the Shimla Municipal Corporation has—quite belatedly now—prohibited any construction on slopes steeper than 45 degrees, the damage has already been done. Most of the town is built on slopes between 45 and 75 degrees. Some 90 per cent of central Shimla, built on a 60 degrees slope, is covered with buildings which are four to five storeys high. In the event of an earth tremor, the devastation could be enormous, with buildings on slopes steeper than 45 degrees collapsing in a chain.
The Geological Survey of India is also currently updating its earlier studies on the town to assess the disaster-causing potential of its unstable slopes.GSI’s deputy director-general P.N. Razdan told Outlook, "The problem of landslides in Shimla town is aggravating and we feel that the town needs urgent treatment for this. Our study will identify the vulnerable areas and suggest remedial measures."
If the structural composition of Shimla’s slopes has something to do with its instability, their overburdening with high buildings has exacerbated the condition. Says state geologist Arun Sharma, "Due to shortage of space, multi-storeyed structures have come up all over the town and many of them have been built without geological approval. In the hills, it’s imperative to build on pillars which rest on rock strata. Most of the time, however, we find that people raise pillars for buildings which are embedded in loose soil because the cost of construction goes up substantially if deeper pillars are to be made." Geologists say that when the famous Ridge of Shimla was constructed, the hilltop was sliced and all the debris was dumped on its northern slopes. Though it has compacted over the years, many parts of Lakkar Bazaar and Rivoli bus stand do show a downward creeping movement. In the mad rush to capitalise on the tourist influx of the ’80s and ’90s, residents added several floors to existing structures, around 30-40 per cent of which are now lying vacant. Officials say that people have constructed 10 times their own requirement which has aggravated the problem. "Due to seepage from the old drainage system on the ridge slope, sliding and creeping is on the rise", says Sharma. Construction has come up on nallahs, on steep slopes like Krishna Nagar near the bus stand, and on government land too. In vulnerable localities like Sanjauli, Cemetery and Katchi Ghati, the chain effect of collapse of buildings is likely to affect sturdy buildings on the lower slopes too.
Private house owners, however, are not the only ones guilty of upward expansion. Most citizens say that the government is the biggest violator in this respect as the recently constructed government buildings are highrise structures. The High Court, nine-storeys high, which was completed just two years ago is an eyesore which most officials are embarrassed to talk about. Ditto for Snowdon Hospital’s newer wings, as also the new building of the State Civil Secretariat and the Government Girls’ College. Says municipal commissioner Mohan Chauhan, "In the case of government buildings, special permission is generally taken and this is done in public interest to enable them to be in the centre of the town." The latest violation is the five-storey high new Congress Bhavan on Cart Road, which is coming in the way of three important tunnels which the municipal corporation plans to make to ease traffic congestion. Though the municipal corporation’s new rules prohibit structures more than two storeys high in the core area of the town, and allow up to only three storeys in the restricted area, most structures here are already four to five floors high because, as hapless corporation officials say, "They were made before the rules came into being." Ideally, in hill stations, the high buildings should be confined to the lower slopes but this realisation has come too late for the town’s administrators.
Shimla’s new development plan envisages low-rises in the new satellite nodes planned around the old town, expanded green areas, relocation of some localities, and shifting of the wholesale grain market from the central part of the town. But approval and implementation? Well, that’s another story.
Chander Suta Dogra in Shimla
