[vivek95]

The thread title to me reflects that Delhi is probably looking at becoming one like Beijing, Dubai etc. which indirectly indicates the high standards of Delhi's infrastructure and the thought process of Delhi-ites about the same. Seriously, with all that incredible stupendous infrastructure in Delhi--NCR, Dilli wallas are still cribbing about no flyovers in 6 years and there are long posts on the same, wow ! . Meanwhile we from Mumbai absolutely cringe in embarrassment whenever we visit Delhi and witness the awesome road infrastructure out there !! No other city in India can even come close on the heels of Delhi.

[myavu]

Originally Posted by vivek95

No other city in India can even come close on the heels of Delhi.

Doc, you are somewhat correct to an extend. But then the vehicular population in Delhi is too-much in comparison. When someone visits Delhi they definitely feel excited seeing the infrastructure. But if one start living here for say 6 months and drive/ride too, the opinion will definitely change

[ShankarG]

Originally Posted by Herschey

This is bound to happen when cities which should ideally be growing horizontally, begin to grow vertically.

I second you on this. Being born and raised in Delhi, I've seen the gradual decline in the quality of the infrastructure, roads and other so called aminities from the DDA like parks and parking lots. We grew up playing on the road but can not imagine our kids to even walk without supervision. No Government has done its bit but sadly that hasn't been enough at any level. And then there are cases where flyover construction has taken 2 decades (e.g. the Tiz Hazari - Azad market flyover)

Many countries have tier based flyover especially on congested stretches. There is a need for the government to think and plan such wide tier based flyovers going forward that. I am not sure if the government has ever considered it (in spite of taking a lot of foreign trips in the name of road system study ).

[N.A.GTC]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

This is from under the Minto Bridge, the very famous Minto Road that connects Connaught Place to ITO. After the rainfall, water got clogged and only the roof of a DTC bus could be seen. ...

Minto road gets waterlogged every time it rains in the city. The situation with this particular road, despite being in central Delhi (right next to CP), is quite peculiar: there's a railway track right above it, and to accommodate that, the road has to descend. This descent - obviously being lower than all other parts of the roads and other areas around it - accumulates all the water. The drains, from what I understand, are not low enough to carry the water out.

The only solution for Minto road, thus, as someone else here also suggested is to install pumps to effectively remove water as it collects. The alternative to that is to move the bridge - but that would require a lot of political will, because as other members have pointed out, there is little willingness to work among officials at DDA, PWD, and MCD (and this would require coordination with Railways too!). Of course, the 'willingness' factor coincides with the systemic incentives and disincentives that exist - there are no incentives for taking any initiative and anyone taking an initiative is looked down upon (and believed to be acting after taking bribes - why else would anyone show initiative?). But of course, that's an entirely different realm of discussion.

Originally Posted by Herschey

This is bound to happen when cities which should ideally be growing horizontally, begin to grow vertically.

While I agree with most of what you have said, the problem with Delhi also is with growing horizontally more than we have grown vertically. The tallest building of Delhi is the Civic Centre (ironically housing the municipal corporations) - that's mere 28 floors. Most of residential apartment complexes are only 7 storeys. Height limit for most areas permits only upto 4 floors of constructions. One of the problems, of course, is FAR being made into a joke. Besides that, though, horizontal development would mean concrete over a greater area, and therefore less water going underground. In my humble opinion and limited understanding of the world, I think we have expanded horizontally way beyond the limit, and need to grow vertically.

Originally Posted by ShankarG

And then there are cases where flyover construction has taken 2 decades (e.g. the Tiz Hazari - Azad market flyover).

Just as a side note, the problem with Tis Hazari - Azad Market flyover was pertaining to land acquisition being challenged in courts and being pending for a very long time. If I'm not mistaken, there were allegations of impropriety in acquisition of land as well, and thus the delays. The recent construction projects (outer ring road: the entire Wazirabad to Mangolpuri set of flyovers/elevated roads) were completed quite quickly. It's a different thing that they are so poorly planned that they're practically a joke.

[Herschey]

Originally Posted by N.A.GTC

While I agree with most of what you have said, the problem with Delhi also is with growing horizontally more than we have grown vertically. The tallest building of Delhi is the Civic Centre (ironically housing the municipal corporations) - that's mere 28 floors. Most of residential apartment complexes are only 7 storeys. Height limit for most areas permits only upto 4 floors of constructions. One of the problems, of course, is FAR being made into a joke. Besides that, though, horizontal development would mean concrete over a greater area, and therefore less water going underground. In my humble opinion and limited understanding of the world, I think we have expanded horizontally way beyond the limit, and need to grow vertically.

I disagree there as I don't think growing vertically is a long term solution to counter problems of a city like Delhi. It only puts additional pressure on the civic infrastructure, creates traffic vows and city choke-points, and concentrates a higher than initially planned number of people per sq.km. of the area.

The argument that horizontal growth of cities increases the concrete coverage and thereby reduces the replenishment of the underground water table is without any basis. The cities aren't built over a watertight surface and there are more than enough points from where water seeps into the underground. Again, these buildings or structures are not water reservoirs or dams for all purposes. They are engineered keeping in mind that they allow for water to seep through rather than lay standing and cause a lasting damage to the structure.

What causes a reduction in the water table is the rampant and illegal use of groundwater and killing of surface water bodies for its land value (again a by product of land scarcity and increase in land value due to population concentration caused by vertical growth).

Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, or any other city, need to grow horizontally to become a truly world class. The civil infrastructure (water, electricity, drainage, piped gas, garbage disposal, waste water treatment etc.), the road network and the mass public transit systems, telecom networks, commercial districts and centers, all of this infrastructure needs to be carefully planned and developed in advance to the arrival of resident population.

One city which comes to my mind when I think on these lines is Greater Noida (not to be confused with Noida Extension); a suburb of Delhi and a part of the Delhi NCR. It is well planned and should come up as a truly world class city in the not so distant future. I also found Panchkula, a sister city of Chandigarh (Punjab) to be well planned. Navi Mumbai too was supposed to be developed on the same lines but I guess they just messed it up for commercial gains again.

Please share your thoughts on which other cities you find to be well planned.