Living in Delhi's Civil Lines: When High-Rises Tower Over Nostalgia

Rachna Bahadur is so fond of her father, late Brij Raj Bahadur (IAS), that she does not want to destroy anything that bears his name. When she recently thought of getting repaired her father's sofa in the drawing room, she was told it was the last time that the old piece of furniture could be repaired. She was hurt. But she still wanted to find a way to preserve the sofa.

The Bahadurs live in their ancestral British-era mansion in Delhi's Civil Lines Bungalow area. Civil Lines area originally was one of the many civilian neighbourhoods that the British Raj had developed for its senior officers in various cities across the Indian sub-continent. Rachna's is one of the many families that have descended from the British Raj officers. Also, these are some of the few families in the national capital who have the luxury to raise gardens in their residential compounds, and welcome peacocks and other birds to their courtyards.

They believe these structures are part of their legacy and the country's history. Some like Rachna even preserve the objects of historical importance kept in their households. However, much like all other Indian families, theirs is also expanding and yearning for individual dwelling units. So, the Bahadurs have more to worry about than their predecessors' belongings — Mr Bahadur's sofa, for instance.

Some of the residents of the area have, in fact, come together with private builders to demolish the old bungalows and erect apartments in the locality. Now, this has created a conflict between those still holding on to their legacy and those compromising on it. The former are also worried that such constructions could change the very character of the Civil Lines area.

Rachna's father's bungalow, 14, Jamuna Road, Civil Lines, was built in the early 1930s. Walking down the lane, it is hard to miss this white colonial style structure nestled in extensive grounds (approximately 3,000 square yards). Tall trees of neem, jamun, mango, gulmohar among many others, welcome you to the compound. Typical of the Victorian architecture, the verandah has tall white pillars. The ceilings are two-three times higher than those in modern Indian buildings.

“I am a fourth-generation inhabitant of this ancestral bungalow and my daughter's is the fifth generation,” says Rachna. “We are the descendants of Raja Raghunath, who was the Imperial High Diwan (Prime Minister) with a privilege of 2,500 sowars of the great Moghul emperor Shahjahan. A branch of our family had moved to Hyderabad, along with the first Nizam of Hyderabad, and built the magnificent Malwala Palace. The Delhi branch of Rai Bahadur Jeevan Lal lived in Shahjahanabad before moving to Civil Lines during the British Raj and bought large parcels of land here. This branch has been settled here since. Our forefathers were brilliant and benevolent revenue administrators. They remained the favourites of all regimes — from the Moghul to the British, through the centuries. My grandfather Shri Sardar Bahadur rose to become the Income-Tax Commissioner of the undivided sub-continent in the North.”

The Bahadurs' bungalow has been witness to many historic developments. For one, the Civil Lines area was the capital of the British for a little more than 18 years when they shifted their base from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to New Delhi in 1912. It was only in the year 1931 that they moved to Lutyens Delhi. In fact, Lutyens stayed at the heritage Maidens Hotel in Civil Lines to draw up the plans for the new capital.

At present, India's central government operates out of Lutyens, the second bungalow zone in Delhi. The big bungalows built by the British here are now occupied by the 'who's who' of the Indian government, judiciary and administration. Today the Civil Lines area is taken over by the Delhi government, with the main British buildings being used as the legislative assembly, the chief minister's residence, and so on.

“Lutyens Delhi has stricter rules for construction than Civil Lines,” Rachna says. “It is a 'bungalow-for-bungalow' replacement system there. At Civil Lines, we are not asking for such strict norms. But we have to stop rampant over-construction; the basic character of the area has to be maintained,” she adds.

The things are hardly different in Lutyen's Delhi. The Union urban development ministry recently decided to redraw the boundary of the Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ). Reports suggest that the ministry will soon send its report to the Prime Minister's Office, which is the final authority to take decisions on policies related to LBZ.

The new report is learnt to have recommended that the total area under LBZ be reduced from 28.73 sq km to 23.64 sq km. That will exclude eight residential areas and a couple of commercial districts from LBZ. It means areas like Bengali Market, Golf Links, Sardar Patel Marg, Panchsheel Marg and Jorbagh will slip out of the zone, and construction of buildings with up to 300 FAR (floor area ratio) will be allowed in these. Real estate experts say this might trigger a real estate boom in the excluded areas, as construction of high-rise buildings will follow. However, in the case of Lutyen's Delhi, too, there is some opposition to these changes from heritage-protection agencies, among other quarters.

A walk down the Civil Lines area will easily make one understand the concerns of the residents. The pocket roads are crowded, with cars parked on both sides.

Another resident of the area, Bharat Bahadur, who lives at 8, Jamuna Road, explains the situation, pointing towards the newly built apartments there. While Bharat's father maintained his own dwelling unit, all the family members handed some portions of their inheritance over to builders, who built new apartments on those. “In such newly built apartments, you can now see 35 families in place of one. That means, there will be 70 or more cars if you take two cars for each family,” Bharat says.

The 'Delhi Master Plan, 2021' had retained the restrictions and regulations for construction activities in the Bungalow zones. There has been a ban on construction of new buildings in Lutyen's Delhi since 2003. The Master Plan says: “Lutyens' Bungalow Zone comprises large-sized plots and has a very pleasant green environment. The essential character of wide avenues, large plots, extensive landscape and low-rise development; it has a heritage value that has to be conserved. Mixed use, high intensity development along MRTS corridor and de-densification of trees/reduction of green cover is not permitted at all. The strategy for development in this zone will be in line with the approved plans and the LBZ guidelines, as may be issued by the Government of India from time to time. Civil Lines also has a Bungalow Area the basic character of which has to be maintained.”

The Master Plan 2021 also restricts higher FAR in redevelopment at Civil Lines. It is also classified under the 'No Industrial Activity Zone', where no industrial activity, including household industry, is permitted. There also are restrictions on the height of buildings. Residents in Civil Lines say 15-16 dwelling units 18 metres high, or with three floors (including the ground floor), are allowed.

“More than 90 per cent of the original Civil Lines residents have redeveloped or converted their bungalows,” says Ravi Khanna, who lives at 6, Jamuna Road. A jeweller by profession, Khanna says he himself redeveloped his bungalow in the early 1980s. His family had moved to Civil Lines from Chandni Chowk in the early 1950s. His own experience of redeveloping the property, he says, later made him a “real estate developer by default”.

“I first redeveloped when our land faced the threat of coming under the new urban-ceiling law of the Indira Gandhi regime. There was an exemption from the ceiling law for group housings. So, I was forced to redevelop to save our plot,” he says.

“The area witnessed more construction activities some 15-20 years ago, when family members started building individual homes and people from outside started coming in,” Khanna adds. He attributes this to the social pressure, and says maintenance of a large parcel of land also becomes an issue for many families. “Why should only one family live on a one-acre land? In today's times, we cannot waste our land resource,” Khanna explains.

Rachna, however, dismisses Ravi's point of view. “One acre lands in Civil Lines have been chopped into pieces and sold off. Gardens are not a waste of land resource. Our gardens are the lungs of Delhi. If these go, Delhi will collapse. I don't want my daughter's generation to lose the garden area,” she says. “While addressing the future housing needs, we should also appreciate our heritage, should abide by the rules and regulations, and refrain from over-construction. No human being can be happy without communion with nature. Every human being must live in the lap of nature and must be able to feel Mother Earth beneath his feet. This will make our children's lives rich and meaningful.”

However, the big question that looms is: How long will the residents be able to hold on to their legacy and heritage? Urban India is going through turbulent times. Will they be able to maintain the right mix of history, heritage and greenery, while also meeting their housing needs? It will be keenly watched.