New Delhi: In a WhatsApp group of architects, a newspaper clipping has raised eyebrows. It was an advertisement from the Delhi Development Authority inviting landscape architects to join a major project—the restoration of the Yamuna floodplains. What has stunned them is the requirement of fresh graduates and postgraduates, with little to no experience.
A senior architect called the DDA ad “outrageous”.
“It is a 1,000-hectare, ambitious project. Shouldn’t DDA get an interdisciplinary team of experienced consultants, professionals, instead of getting junior people in their office to design this landscape?” said a senior architect in a conversation with ThePrint.
“Is DDA even serious about the project?”
The walk-in interview advertisement by DDA has triggered a flurry of concern and conversation within Delhi’s architecture community. Well-known, senior architects are questioning the workings of DDA. They say there were no consultations with senior architects who have worked closely with the government. And such ads have caught them off-guard.
Their concern is corroborated by the history of such landscaping projects along Yamuna floodplains. In 2023, a devastating flood took Yamuna floodplains back by years after wiping out the work of 10 projects taken up by DDA on 1,000 hectares along the river. Reports suggested around 90 per cent of 90,000 saplings and riverine grass were damaged due to the floods in 2023. It was when the DDA had begun work on seven projects. Of these, at least three projects—Asita East, Kalindi Aviral, and Yamuna Vatika—were nearing completion. The projects had witnessed investments of Rs 13.3 crore, Rs 13 crore, and Rs 14.3 crore, respectively.
“The problem is that the DDA doesn’t have an overarching vision,” said KT Ravindran, retired professor and Head of Urban Design at the School of Planning and Architecture. “Flood management is a crucial component of Yamuna floodplain restoration. Those without experience are unfit for executing such complex work on the ground. The only logical explanation I can see is that they are hiring junior people to provide assistance.”
A senior official from DDA, who didn’t want to be named, said that there is tremendous pressure from the newly elected BJP government in Delhi to finish the Yamuna floodplains restoration project.
“If there are any architects who have any concerns, they can directly contact us. We have a long-standing team of architects, and we are very serious about the proper restoration and renovation of Yamuna floodplains,” said the official, who is involved in the thick of the project.
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‘DDA attitude must change’
Year after year, the restoration of the Yamuna floodplains has remained at the centre of public discourse. Governments have invested funds, initiated restoration efforts, and carried out renovations—yet each time, recurring damage due to floods has undone much of the progress made.
For senior architect Ravindran, the way forward is to create a high-level committee. “All experienced minds need to be brought together to come up with long-term, sustainable remedies,” he said.
On the DDA website, the job notification reads: “DDA invites applications for engaging Professionals for various projects under Landscape Department, DDA purely on contractual basis.”
Architects say they are not questioning the hiring process but the casual manner in which an ecologically sensitive area like the Yamuna floodplains is being handled.
The architect community in Delhi is comparing DDA’s Yamuna floodplains project to high-profile central government projects like the Central Vista and Ram Mandir.
They pointed out that the Central Vista selection followed a far more rigorous and transparent process. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) conducted two rounds of online bidding, inviting design and planning firms to compete. A jury panel then reviewed the proposals before awarding the project, ensuring that both merit and vision guided the final selection.
Another seasoned architect and conservationist, who didn’t want to be named, pointed to the Ram Mandir project as a contrasting example—where the government invited multiple architecture firms to present their designs and vision before selecting one. He said that kind of fierce competition and seriousness of intent are missing here.
“They [the DDA] had put in hundreds of crores for the restoration of Yamuna floodplains. And then the floods came. It was the taxpayers’ money. The attitude of the DDA is quite disheartening. The attitude has to change,” said the senior architect.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)