NEW DELHI: With the outdoor advertisement and signages guidelines for the city’s iconic shopping and business hub — Connaught Place — not available in the public domain, the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC) has asked the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to upload the same on its website. The panel is of the view that inaccessibility to the rules makes compliance difficult.
In its last meeting, the committee — set up for the protection of heritage buildings, heritage precincts and natural feature areas in Delhi - held deliberation over the issue; being faced by the property owners, architects or promoters while seeking mandatory approval to carrying out repair and maintenance work.
Following which the panel suggested the council to upload the approved policy or guidelines related to the signages or signboards giving details about their placement, size, colour and text (font) in the Connaught Place.
The HCC has also asked the municipal body to share the approved rules with it for uploading them on its portal. Senior officers of the NDMC said the matter is being examined by the concerned officials concerning the policies for display advertisements and signboards — approved in 2010 during Commonwealth Games and 2017 when a comprehensive guideline — Delhi Outdoor Advertisement Policy (DOAP) was introduced.
“The issue will be looked into in context with DOAP 2017, which was again adopted in 2019 by the council. We have already sought papers about 2010 guidelines from the shopkeepers or traders of Connaught Place. We are working on it. This issue will have to be seen in totality whether the 2010 rules will prevail or fresh DOAP will be applicable,” said an official of NDMC.
The HCC receives several proposals seeking permission to initiate repair and maintenance work of properties in Delhi’s most sought after business and tourist centre every month. The approvals are accorded with instructions to ensure the structural safety of the buildings without disturbing their heritage character and placement of signages as per the approved guidelines. “The HCC also directed the council to publicise the guidelines appropriately and expeditiously so that it can be easily accessible to the general public and architects and its implementation in the current or future proposals be ensured,” said another official.