StudioX-Integrating the Informal

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INTEGRATINGTHE INFORMAL
UNDERSTANDING URBANISM IN KATWARAI SARAI
Chaitanya Kanuri | Maria Merchant | Sanaa Degani

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Sadak ke paar khada taakta
Mujhe har kadam pe aankta
Yeh shaher mera hai
Na paidaish, na purani rihaish hai
Phir bhi, yeh shaher mera hai
Ise dost banana khoob aata hai
Ise kahaniyaan sunana khoob aata hai
Ye shaher kisson ka dher hai, kahaniyon ka
ghar hai
Main bhi, mutthi bhar kisse lekar aaya tha
Jo ab iski kahaniyon mein ghulne lage hain
Yahan mere sapne khilne lage hain
Aur khil raha hun main
Is shaher ki raftaar mein, mil raha hun main…
~ Prashant Gautam

To Delhi,
For at every twist and turn we took, you showed us something old, something
new, but always something beautiful, so much so that we fell in love with you;
the majestic remnants of your past, the realities of your eccentric present and the
spirit of your hopeful future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Considering that most of the material in this book was assembled from scratch, without the benefit of
secondary sources or available documentation, we are grateful for the wonderful people who helped
us through the process. First and foremost, we would like to thank the Young India Fellowship Pro-
gram for giving us the opportunity, and providing us with the multidisciplinary platform and environ-
ment which made this project possible. We would like to thank our client, Rajeev Thakker of Studio-X,
who saw us through confusing times, always offering encouragement and constructive feedback, and
never losing faith in our potential. We would like to thank the inspiring faculty at the fellowship, who
broadened our understanding- in particular, we thank the faculty of SciencesPo for the module on ur-
ban governance, from which we learnt ways of looking at the city, and which gave us the chance to
experience primary data collection methodology. We would also like to thank Mekhala Krishnamurthy,
who taught us ethnographic methods, but also taught us to trust in ourselves and our project at a criti-
cal time. We would like to thank our co-fellows who have shown interest in our work, and given us
their time and feedback- Prashant Gautam, for sharing with us his passion for Delhi and making us fall
in love with it; Siddharth Dixit and Ashish Agarwal, for generously sharing their research work; Jayesh
Ganesh, for being around whenever we needed to pick his brain. Lastly, and most importantly, we
would like to thank the people of Katwaria Sarai, for being our unending source of inspiration and learn-
ing- at every stage, you taught us something new, and you showed us new ways of looking at things.
Thank you!

CONTENTS
Introduction
Katwarai Sarai
• History
• Socio-Cultural Life
• Economics of the Sarai
• Politics of the Sarai
Analysis
• The Resilience of Transitional Space
• Syncretism of the Formal and Informal
• The Place-Making Potential of the Formal
The Wells of Time
The Wells of the Sarai
• Well no. 1
• Well no. 2
• Well no. 3
• Well no. 4
Conclusion
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13
14
16
24
29
34
35
36
37
40
42
44
48
52
56
62

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INTRODUCTION
The uniformity of urbanisation is recognisable in its
very ubiquity. More and more, cities across the world
have begun to resemble one another, and no longer
can they be identified by sight. And so it is in India
too, where great cities were once distinctive enough
to have titles, be it Jaipur, the pink city, or Udaipur,
the city of lakes and palaces, or the temple city of
Madurai, or the Mughal city of Shahjahanabad. The
grandest as well as the most vernacular architecture
in a place was indicative of its history, and heritage.
Today, as ‘place’ loses its significance in the virtual
world of universal connectivity, so are places losing
their significance and individuality. The Cyber City
of Hyderabad could just as well be the Electronic
City of Bangalore or the Gurgaon of New Delhi. The
espoused ideal of a world without borders is being
realised, if in nothing else, in the banal sameness of
cities without identities.
Walking through Delhi, we saw hints of its heritage
in the historic monuments that dot the city in the
most unexpected places. We admired the distinc-
tive grandness of Lutyens’ Delhi, an apt testament
to the centre of political power. We absorbed the
atmosphere of intellectual sophistication evidenced
in the panel discussions, poetry readings and politi-
cal debates. But it was in the crowded alleyways of
Chandni Chowk and the seedy areas of Paharganj
that we caught a real glimpse of the spirit which
moves Delhi, its character. The upper echelons of
Delhi residents that move in air-conditioned circles,
and the ‘world-class’ auditoriums and convention
centres which house them, could be from any part of
the world, with their cultivated cosmopolitanism. But
the aggressive driver who pulls over for a brawl at
the slightest provocation, the thick canopy of il-
legal electrical connections that shade the roads,
the smoke, sweat and heat of street food joints, the
kebabs, the Mughal domes- it is the melding of these
kaleidoscopic images that captures Delhi in all its
memorable glory.
Spaces need vibrancy, functionality, and action to
transform into places, identifiable, useful. It was in
the organically developed areas of the city that we
saw the liveliest spaces, a melee of people, sights,
sounds and smells enough to inundate the senses.
And it was here that we saw a remarkably efficient, if
chaotic, functioning of systems. This was where the
informal sector was in greatest concentration, wiping
out the sterilised civility enforced by the regulations
of standardised urban planning guidelines. The
informal systems in a developing city are essential to
bridge the gap between the demand and the supply
of resources. They step in when urban infrastructure
can no longer bear the load; they offer convenience
through their easy adaptability and proximity; they
cater to the poorer sections of society that have no
safeguards, and provide them livelihoods; they offer
variety and choice to the budget consumer. And
more intangibly but just as importantly, the infor-
mal systems create places that are memorable and
unique, because informality by its very nature cannot
be standardised or strait-jacketed into regulation
uniformity.
Gurgaon
LNJP Market, New Delhi

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Informality and Place
Making
It is this place-making potential of informal systems
that we hope to understand through our study, which
we have approached through the case study of
Katwaria Sarai, an urban village in New Delhi. Urban
villages are areas that are undergoing a belated
process of urbanization and are of a distinctly differ-
ent urban fabric from their surroundings, one which is
more organic in nature and more resembling the old
city areas than the newer planned city spaces. They
function as self-sufficient microcosms with all neces-
sary services available within their confines, and the
large degree of informal engagement in the place
results in a specific, need-based development that
reflects the nature of the people and the space.
The informal city in urban centres in India is deeply
interwoven with the formal city. And yet, the informal
sector is resisted as unlawful and chaotic and faces
constant persecution, despite the fact that it arises
out of un-serviced needs, and is often more efficient,
economic, and organised than the bureaucracy ridden
‘formal’ sector. As centres of informal development
begin to get integrated with the urban fabric, the
mainstream point of view seems to aim for their
‘rehabilitation’ into the formal city. We would like to
question this assumption. By understand the func-
tioning of such areas, and analysing the quality of
life they offer to the people who live and work there,
we hope to make a case for preserving their identity
and culture, while at the same time trying to see how
these areas can benefit from urban interventions and
in which ways the onslaught of relentless urbanism
should be curbed.
Jama Masjid, New Delhi
Lal-Qila, New Delhi

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Dariba Kalan Street, New Delhi

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“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only
because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
~ Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

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Katwaria Sarai is an urban village located in the Hauz
Khas area of South Delhi. It is spread out over 40
acres (or 0.16 sq.km.) and has a population of about
50,000. It is bounded by Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg on
one side, and institutional lands (NCERT and IIT) on
the others. It is well connected to the rest of the city
by local transit- the Katwaria Sarai bus stop connects
it to nearby areas like Mehrauli and R.K.Puram, and
it is roughly equidistant from two Metro stations on
the yellow line of the Delhi Metro, Hauz Khas and
Malviya Nagar.
The nature of the development in Katwaria Sarai
can be broadly divided into two categories- that of
the Delhi Development Authority, which has low-
income and middle-income housing schemes, located
towards the main road, with better access and more
planned layouts, and single-use buildings; as we go
deeper into the village, the character of the space
becomes more densely-packed and informal, with
additions and extensions constructed as required,
narrower lanes, slum pockets and a higher concentra-
tion of mixed-use buildings, with commercial activity
on the ground floor spilling over into the streets, and
residential areas on the upper floors. While many of
the families of the original settlers of the land con-
tinue to reside in the village, there is a large influx of
migrants, primarily people coming into Delhi looking
for an affordable yet comfortable place to live. The
convenience of the central location, the availability
of accommodation, the lower rents and cost of living,
and the easy access to all necessary services allow
Katwaria Sarai to remain highly relevant, and to be
an important stop-gap between the higher-end resi-
dential projects and the informal settlements.
KATWARAI SARAI

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HISTORY
Katwaria Sarai:
Pre-1947
The word ‘sarai’ is derived from ‘caravanserai,’ a
Persian word meaning a caravan station where
travellers would rest. It is a word common to many
Central Asian and Indian languages, and refers to the
shelters for travellers, sometimes large and extrava-
gant, often modest and improvised, that tradition-
ally dotted the cities and highways of much of the
continent including Russia, China, the Indian subcon-
tinent, the Middle East and Central Asia, facilitating
travel, pilgrimage, commerce and adventure but also
enabling the creation of rich, hybrid languages and
cultures and the exchange of stories, concepts and
ideas across large distances. It is a word that can be
tied to the era of Islamic colonisation. The sarais of
Delhi were originally 22 in number, and were in exist-
ence during the Mughal rule. They were rest stops
where soldiers or merchants would take rest on their
travels to and from the Mughal capital, at the times
of the different capitals established in Delhi under
the Mughal rule. Katwaria Sarai was one of the
original sarais of the Mughal era, and there are many
versions of its history.
One of the stories of Katwaria Sarai starts during the
Mughal period, when this area was used as the rest-
ing place for the soldiers and merchants who came to
Delhi for trade or other commercial and military ac-
tivities. This area had small houses and rooms where
these soldiers stayed for some time and refreshed
themselves before moving onward in their journeys.
This area was not inhabited by people from any
specific caste or creed during this time. Most of the
people who kept the sarai running were small shop-
keepers who provided refreshments to these soldiers
and merchants. But these shopkeepers never lived
here, and had their permanent homes in Mehrauli or
in old Delhi. But things were to change for Katwaria
Sarai in the middle of the 18th century.
In 1753, Maharaja Surajmal of Bharatpur, attacked
Delhi while the Mughals were engaged in war with
the Marathas. After a terrible battle, the army of
Surajmal defeated the Nawab of Delhi, Ghazi-ud-din
and captured Delhi. Although he won the battle and
Delhi, he was not interested in ruling it. As a token of
his victory, Maharaja Surajmal took away the gates
of Firozshah Kotla to his kingdom at Bharatpur. On
his way back to Bharatpur, he with his army, decided
to rest for a while at the sarai. Some of the soldiers,
mostly Sansanwals, (soldiers who came from San-
sanwal village in the Bharatpur kingdom of yore) de-
cided to remain in this area as it was fertile land with
a good water supply. They started farming the land.
In due course of time, one of the Sansanwals married
the beautiful daughter of the jagirdaar of Mehrauli.
In those days, dowry was an essential custom during
marriages. The land on which the Sansanwals had
settled was under the jurisdiction of the jagirdaar of
Mehrauli, and he gifted it to the groom as dowry. As
this piece of land was cut from the area of what was
known as Mehrauli, it was named Katwaria Sarai
(‘katwaria’ is derived from the Hindi word kaatna,
which means ‘to cut’).
It is said that then Katwaria Sarai was a large piece
of land which extended from Mehrauli to Hauz Khas,
and it became difficult for the handful of Sansanwals
and their families to cultivate it. So the Sansanwals
invited Malliks and Katarias, Jats who hailed from
nearby Haryana, to help them farm the land. Many of
these Katarias and Malliks were initially employed
as workers on the lands owned by the Sansanwals.
In time, the Malliks and Katarias also purchased land
from the Sansanwals and became landlords in their
own right. Katwaria Sarai was thus mainly inhabited
by the three major castes of Sansanwals, Malliks and
Katarias. However, progressive development saw the
influx of a large number of migrants as New Delhi
grew and became the densely populated capital city
that we know today.

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Katwaria Sarai:
Post-1947
The oldest functional part of Delhi today is the
erstwhile Shahjahanabad, the last Mughal capital
that was taken over by the British, thereby mark-
ing the end of the Mughal rule. The British Raj then
established their own capital, New Delhi, adjacent
to the old city, razing all existing villages and set-
tlements to the ground. This can be thought of as
the first wave of urbanisation of Delhi, when most
of the central Delhi area we know as Lutyens’ Delhi
was established. A second wave of urbanisation
overtook Delhi, post-Independence. While the first
urban settlement razed existing villages in its forma-
tion, the second round of expansion, in the wake of
the Partition and as the capital of a newly independ-
ent India, engulfed and surrounded the villages in
and around the city. This resulted in the creation of
urban villages, distinctively rural pockets hemmed in
by an urban framework. Many of the extant Mughal
sarais located in the city outskirts thus became urban
villages, existing to this day. These urban villages
flourished as Lal Dora areas- the Lal Dora was estab-
lished in 1908, under the British regime, and deline-
ated the village habitation areas (abadi areas) from
the surrounding agricultural lands. Construction in
Lal Dora areas was not regulated by building bylaws
and developed organically, without the typical urban
planning framework.
Thus, Katwaria Sarai became one of the 135 urban
villages of New Delhi.Around 1960, the farmlands
surrounding the abadi areas were acquired by the
government, primarily for setting up the educational
institutes which now demarcate Katwaria Sarai- IIT
Delhi and NCERT. The DDA also acquired land for
building apartments at around the same time, and
with their advent, infrastructure like roads, electricity
and water supply came to Katwaria Sarai, which had
until then continued to exist as a rural hamlet amidst
its urban surroundings.
Even today, the bustle and informal feel of Katwaria
Sarai is reminiscent of its historic and rural roots.
The juxtaposition of modernity and tradition evident
throughout Katwaria Sarai is best highlighted by the
tall buildings that sandwich the gumbad- the historic
gate that, in Mughal times, was the only point of
entry into the walled sarai. The robust construction
of yesteryears has preserved the gumbad, a domed
gateway, in nearly pristine condition, making the
matter-of-fact treatment of its existence even more
surreal. Till date, the gumbad is in use, with people
regularly passing through it and taking shelter in its
cool interior, immune to its historic charm. In Katwar-
ia Sarai, history and tradition are inherent; they are
not precious. The extent to which past and present
co-exist here can be understood from the fact that
many of the older residents still remember a time
when the now busy Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg was
only a kuchcha road, there was farmland all around,
and Katwaria Sarai consisted of nothing more than
a few buildings sparsely spread out amidst relative
wilderness.
Gumbad, Katwarai Sarai

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SOCIO-CULTURAL
LIFE
The socio-cultural life of Katwaria Sarai can be
understood from its demographic composition, which
plays an important role in shaping the character of
the area. Being a space which is under few planning
constraints, Katwaria Sarai responds to, and reflects,
the needs and aspirations of its residents. Its result-
ing organic nature of development then effectively
cuts it off from the mainstream of the localities
around it, so that it becomes a self-contained micro-
cosm of culture and tradition, internally sufficient in
its living and commerce. In this way, Katwaria Sarai
can be seen as a city within a city, or rather, a village
within a city.
The compact spaces, the narrow roads and the
proximity of the buildings to one another create a
physical structure which facilitates closeness. Much
of the life of the sarai is lived out in the streets,
which change with the seasons and the festivals and
accommodate, in their close confines, the social and
cultural exchanges as well as the commerce of the
sarai. This prioritisation of people in the public realm
of the locality fosters a welcoming atmosphere, one
in which even outsiders can take part. This is seen
clearly during festivals like Diwali and Holi, when the
streets come alive with different groups of people
celebrating together. The people form the life of the
sarai, and the space allows for surroundings that ac-
cept and adapt.
The people who live in Katwaria Sarai can be catego-
rised into four types, based on the nature and history
of their residence.
• the descendants of the original inhabitants,
mainly from the Jat families of the Maliks, San-
sanwals and Katarias
• the residents of the DDA apartments, who have
settled down in Katwaria Sarai despite having no
roots in the place
• the students preparing for competitive exams and
young professionals just starting out in the city,
make up the bulk of the migrants who live in Kat-
waria Sarai for its convenience and affordability,
until they can move to a better area
• the people who migrated to make their liveli-
hood by catering to the commercial needs of the
residents- mainly, villagers from Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar
These different demographic groups have very dif-
ferent lifestyles, which co-exist peacefully in the
compact surroundings of Katwaria Sarai. Each group
has a distinct role in the socio-cultural life of the
sarai, and in the highly responsive space of the sarai,
one can distinguish the different influences.

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The Original
Inhabitants
The first demographic, that of the settler families,
continues to remain a close-knit community which
is currently undergoing a period of transformation.
While many of the original inhabitants still live as
part of joint families, the younger generations are
increasingly moving out of the area to seek a more
modern and urban quality of life elsewhere in the
city, and further away. In Katwaria Sarai, these
families enjoy a high standard of living due mainly
to the property they own; many of the residential
units in Katwaria Sarai are let out on rent, and most
buildings have been converted to hostel-style accom-
modation, in order to be suitable for the students and
young professionals who make up the majority of the
migrants. What this has led to is a generous monthly
income for the families; however, the downside has
been the lack of an incentive for the younger family
members, born into wealth, to seek higher education
or meaningful employment. The tensions- between
tradition and modernity, the lifestyle of the landlord
and that of the educated jobholder, the ones who
leave and the ones who remain behind, are being
played out in this time of flux as the village slowly
becomes part of the city.
Nevertheless, what is unquestionable is the clout this
demographic has in the daily functioning of the sarai,
be it as the permanent residents with historic roots in
the locality, as the landlords of all the tenants living
in Katwaria Sarai, or as the families that make up
the erstwhile Gram Sabha, which still arbitrates on
local issues and acts as local counsel for the official
governance structure.

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The DDA Residents
The counterpoint to the Gram Sabha is provided by
the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) of the
DDA apartments, which are in an infrastructural
tussle with the informal sarai over the allocation of
resources (the DDA water and electricity connections
are often illegally tapped). The RWA represents the
interests of the residents of the DDA apartments, and
is the other point of contact for the local government
bodies.
The DDA apartments are distinctly different in char-
acter from the rest of the village- they are more struc-
tured, more formal and less chaotic in their arrange-
ment in comparison to the organic fabric of Katwaria
Sarai. They exhibit a wide variety in themselves,
ranging from Middle Income Group (MIG) housing, to
Lower Income Group (LIG) housing, and Janta hous-
ing. The MIG housing is located at the very borders
of the sarai, adjoining the main road, and as such,
the residents of these flats are both physically and
psychologically separated from the sarai, with their
livelihoods and lifestyles unconnected to the life of
the sarai . The LIG housing and the Janta flats are
located in interior areas, leading to their better amal-
gamation into the activities of the sarai, with many of
the residents running local businesses in the area.

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The Students and Young
Professionals
It is the students and young professionals who
provide the bread and butter for many of the local
businesses and commercial establishments in the lo-
cality, which flourish in response to their needs. They
come to the city to prepare for competitive exams or
to make their living in new jobs; they live in Katwaria
Sarai, which allows them the convenience of its
central location at a cost affordable to them; they
make small circles of friends amongst themselves or
with their room-mates, and interact with the other
demographics as providers of accommodation and of
services. This transitional migrant populace lives in
rented hostel-type accommodation either singly, in
pairs or groups, as their financial situation permits.
Many of the members of this demographic tend to
eat out, leading to a large number of eateries be-
ing set up in the area, catering to a wide range of
cuisines and budgets. In an example of the reflexivity
of the commerce to the residents’ needs, a larger
number of migrants from Odisha has led to a couple
of food joints serving specialty Odisha cuisine.
This group of people also has a higher disposable
income, and their presence has led to the advent
of many modern amenities to Katwaria Sarai, like
the two Laundromats which service the area. At the
same time, traditional businesses like the chaiwal-
lahs and bhelpuri carts are also frequented and kept
in business by the students, who often congregate
outside to take a break from the monotony of their
studies.

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The Rural Migrants
The smaller businesses and informal economy is run
by migrants from UP and Bihar, who come to the city
to seek a better quality of life, and find it in Katwaria
Sarai- their children attend schools and have aspi-
rations, they do not have to live in slums and are
comfortably close to their areas of work, and they
form a community within themselves that becomes
their support system away from home. Many of these
migrants come to the city due to a paucity of employ-
ment in their villages, and they come to Katwaria
Sarai because they already have family here; some
hope to live their days out in the city, while others
see this as a temporary residence until they can
return to their villages. They live in the deep interiors
of the sarai, in a communal atmosphere that is remi-
niscent of a rural area- a village chowk with a tree,
shared bathrooms, low-rise and compact housing and
an absence of privacy characterise these areas that
form a unique part of the sarai.

21
The electric wires crisscrossed over the park edges, forming a canopy of cables sieving the
first rays of the sun. The garden already seemed to be in motion, the benches pushed to the
side and fitness enthusiasts making their way round the garden in circles. A little later, from
my vantage point in the balcony of a four-floor building, I could see women with large buck-
ets of laundry hanging an array of colorful clothes onto the lower plastic cables that they had
attached between trees. In the hot summer afternoons, the garden was bare of any movement
with an awkward crow squawking from his sheltering branch, while in the winter it became
the meeting point for household women, either gossiping or taking an afternoon siesta. Towards
evening, the slowness of the afternoon dissolved into the chomping of cows grazing on patches
of grass that had not been consumed by the sun while dogs barked around children playing tag.
And late at night, under the lone streetlamp in the park, sat young men consumed in phone con-
versations with their life back home while romance played a symphony in the shadows. Such is
the transformation of movement in the parks of the Sarai.

22
The police chowky at the edge of the sarai was only symbolic. One never saw it open and
functioning during the day; but at night, large metal barricades came out of it and were aligned
in a maze on the main road at the opening of the sarai while the khaki uniformed men smoked
one beedi after another, keeping their eyes on the passing cars. Every car that passed swerved
through the barricades smiling innocently at the policemen who in-turn looked skeptically,
trying to decipher an innocent from a drunk. The silent witnesses to this streetlight drama sat in
the corners of the sarai with their cups of midnight chai, puffing smoke out while taking a break
from their books. These men aspiring to be government officers are the customers to roadside
chai and paratha sellers even at night, keeping the sarai awake as late as 3:00 am.

23
The tea was steaming hot, so much so that he could not hold the handle of the ceramic teacup,
but the chaiwallah’s fingers seemed to be numb to the heat as he lifted the steel container and
poured tea covered in steam into small tea glasses. The glasses were immediately picked up
by the usuals, that is the men, back from work or taking a break from their book piles, drink-
ing light conversations before they got back to their meals and pillows. Seven o’clock in the
evening was always the busiest time. Nearby, the fruit vendor carts were flocked with custom-
ers and the traffic moved through, as if dancing mechanically, curving in and out through the
crowds of people to the music of voices.

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ECONOMICS OF
THE SARAI
The commercial activities of sarais are as distinc-
tive and flexible as their changing populace. While
the commerce of an area like Connaught Place (Rajiv
Chowk) has to negotiate within the confines set by its
prime location, and the imposing and rigid planning
of its spaces, the sarais have no such presumptions.
Thus, we have Jia Sarai and Ber Sarai, where large
book markets flourish to cater to the continuous flow
of students preparing for various competitive exams
who choose to reside in those areas. And we have
the newly upscale Shahpurjat, mimicking the pattern
followed by its predecessor, Hauz Khas Village, in
shedding the village tag and becoming the hotspot
for exclusive boutiques and niche restaurants.
Similarly, the commerce of Katwaria Sarai is as dis-
tinctive as its character. It caters almost exclusively
to the needs of its residents and the area acts as a
nearly self-sufficient locality, so much so that even
the owners of the commercial establishments are
residents of the area. While some of the shop owners
are from the original inhabitants’ families who have
shifted from being farmers to businessmen, many of
them are enterprising entrepreneurs who have come
to live in, and make their living in, Katwaria Sarai.
Another section of shopkeepers (from the informal
sector) are migrants from villages in Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar, who find Katwaria Sarai a relatively
inexpensive place to live in. The majority of the com-
merce in the area consists of modest businesses for
commodities and services. Most stores are small,
either students or young professionals. There are
several street vendors and hole-in-the-wall establish-
ments that provide inexpensive food, ranging from
Indian junk food like chaat, samosas and sweets to
meals like roti-sabzi and dal-chawal. This is for the
young people who live in the Sarai without families,
many of whom do not cook, or live in rooms which
have no provision for cooking. The advent of upscale
restaurants like ‘Caffe Bite’ and ‘Chocolate Room’
indicates the higher buying power and the diversi-
fied culinary tastes of the job-holders who live in the
area. In between, there is a whole range of options,
from chai stalls to dabbawalas to small restaurants
to juice shops to mini-dhabas. Also, there is a large
fruit and vegetable market in the area coexisting with
a Safal store that sells the same fruits and veggies
in a supermarket format. Here, it is not the cost or
quality so much as the nature of the establishment
which comes into consideration. While the younger
generation may be more comfortable buying produce
from a departmental store, the older generation of
residents and families may prefer the sabzi mandi
(vegetable market) format for making their purchases
(here, perceptions of bargaining power, personal rap-
port with the vendors, freshness of the produce play
a part in the decision-making).
Electrical and hardware stores, shops supplying gas
cylinders, shops selling utensils, stoves mattresses
and other household items, clothing, accessory and
shoe stores, pharmacies, stationeries- everything
necessary for daily living is available in Katwaria
Sarai. The list of available services is also com-
prehensive- dry cleaners and laundromats (another
concession to the growing need for conveniences
and greater spending power), tailors, beauty parlours,
travel agents, photo studios and telecom offices,
with an average area of 200sq.ft., and sell goods that
have a high turnover, primarily necessities. In addi-
tion to the stores, there is high density of informal
commercial activity, especially in the food and service
sectors. Street vendors and roadside hawkers form
the bulk of the supply in certain cases, as in the fruits
and vegetables markets, and add a distinct layer of
commerce to other purchase sectors, like the ready-
to-eat food market which has a lot of price variance
and diversity.
The greater frequency of certain types of estab-
lishments is a direct reflection of the needs of the
community, and gives us an idea of its demographic
composition. There are a disproportionately large
number of barbers in the area, outnumbering the
beauty parlours, which can be attributed to the large
male population that lives in the area, the ‘students’
of the age group 20-30, preparing for competitive
exams, and the office-going crowd, in which the men
are again in greater proportion. This can be attested
to by the number of young men that are seen milling
about the tea stalls in the evenings. The many inter-
net cafes and printers in the area also indicate the
existence of the students; the printers are frequently
used for printing and photocopying entire textbooks
and other study material. However, since Katwaria
Sarai is not known primarily as a student hub, there
are only a couple of shops selling reading material,
and the majority of the students source their books
from nearby Jia Sarai and Ber Sarai.
The nature and quality of the commercial establish-
ments acts as an indicator of the preferences and the
buying power of the population. Food is one of the
most important sectors in Katwaria Sarai, catering
mainly to the migrant population of young people,

25
even shoe repair shops and watchmakers, all exist
within the compact, walkable area, leading to a high
degree of convenience and self-sustainability to the
area.
An other major economic activity in the sarai is room
rentals. Most of the descendants’ of the original in-
habitants own property in Katwaria Sarai, which they
have converted to, or are in the process of converting
to, hostel rooms to cater to the demand for rented
accommodation. Rents vary between Rs. 4000- Rs.
12000 for single room sets, depending on size and
location, the inclusion of an attached bathroom and
pantry, and other luxuries like furniture and refrigera-
tors, air-conditioning etc. The rents from these units
serve as the main source of livelihood for many of
the landlords and their families. The ubiquitous to-let
advertisements plastered all over Katwaria Sarai are
indicative of the scale of the rental activities.
The economic activities are not only dictated by the
needs of the sarai, they also play an important role
in shaping the character of the sarai. The informal
nature of many of these shops, the walkability in
the distances and the mixed-use planning in most
of the main streets make Katwaria Sarai a vibrant
and bustling area, leading to greater interaction
and a more lively streetscape at most times in the
day. The importance of this atmosphere cannot be
under-estimated- the removal of a line of fruit and
vegetable sellers, and some chai stalls from the main
road leading into Katwaria Sarai (due to complaints
of noise and late-night activity by residents of the
adjacent DDA flats) has converted the street into a
silent, deserted and more dangerous zone both during
the day and in the night, whereas it used to be active
until well past 11pm.

27
Arun Kanojia
Provision store owner, lives in
Janta Apartments
Q: How did you come to Katwaria Sarai?
A: Forty years ago, my grandfather shifted with his
family from East Delhi to the DDA apartment which
he was allocated, in Katwaria Sarai (under the LIG
and Janta categories, flats are offered for allotment
to the applicants who are already registered under its
various Housing Registration Schemes).
Q: Why did you choose to continue living in Katwaria
Sarai?
A: It is safer than most of the other affordable locali-
ties in Delhi. Here, my family can walk around even
at midnight. I can live close to my business, and there
are many facilities available nearby. It is surrounded
by national institutions, which helps in improving
the overall environment and the quality of available
infrastructure like good roads, water supply and
electricity.
Q: How is doing business here different from other
places?
A: We know the customers well here, they become
our friends. We give credit to them, and they spend
their free time here. My whole family helps run the
shop, and we live nearby, so there is much more flex-
ibility for all of us. It is overall a more casual atmos-
phere, and there is less separation of work and home.

28
Gopal
Vegetable vendor from Uttar
Pradesh
Q: Why did you come to Delhi, and how long have
you been here?
A: I came to Delhi 13 years ago, and I have been sell-
ing vegetables in Katwaria Sarai ever since. I came
because at that time, my sister’s family was living
here, and they told me to come, to help them and for
a better life.
Q: What about your family?
A: I live with my wife and children. My children are in
4th and 5th standards at school, and go to Kendriya
Vidyalaya. They got in on merit.
My sister’s husband now owns a shoe shop in Kat-
waria Sarai, he got it only two years back. So they
are doing well now.
Q: How does the mandi work?
A: This sabzi mandi has been here for 25 years. Mr.
Bablu is the pradhan for the mandi (from the pan-
chayat), and I pay him Rs.100 every month as rent for
my space.
Everyday, I go at 4am to the Azadpur Mandi, from
where everyone gets their fruits and vegetables. A
bunch of us transport our supplies back together in
a tempo, and we are here from 9 in the morning to
almost 11 at night.

29
POLITICS OF THE
SARAI
Katwaria Sarai is located in the Hauz Khas sub-
division of the South Delhi administrative district.
The erstwhile rural hamlet was part of the original
Lal Dora areas; the Lal Dora came into being during
the British regime, in 1908. A red line was drawn on
maps, delineating the village settlement from the
surrounding agricultural lands, for revenue records.
The municipal authorities did not have jurisdiction
over the lands which came under the Lal Dora clas-
sification, nor were the urban development guidelines
applicable to them. Lal Dora areas were thus exempt
from the building bylaws, requirement of building
plan sanctions and other rigid construction and devel-
opment norms that were listed in the Delhi Municipal
Act. The practice continued and the expansion in the
areas which extended beyond the Lal Dora between
the initial classification in 1908, and 1952, when the
revenue surveys were conducted in newly independ-
ent India, were classified as the ‘extended Lal Dora.’
As urbanisation extended outward from central New
Delhi, Katwaria Sarai, like many other ‘urban vil-
lages,’ was engulfed and surrounded by an urban
fabric distinct from its own identity. The farmlands of
the people living in the village were acquired by the
government, primarily for setting up the educational
institutes which now demarcate Katwaria Sarai- IIT
Delhi and NCERT, both established in 1961 (the
foundation stone for IIT-D was laid in January 1959,
thereby tentatively placing the time of the land acqui-
sition as 1958, approximate). As it began to be encir-
and individual water connections began proliferating
afterwards. However, illegal tapping of these ser-
vices by parts of the Katwaria Sarai colony, much of
which remains unregularised as part of the extended
Lal Dora, have created shortages, leading to tensions
between the DDA residents and the residents of the
sarai.
The recent government decision to regularise all
areas under the extended Lal Dora (April 2013) will
go a long way in mitigating these internal conflicts
between the ‘illegal’ and ‘legal’ residents of the area,
with both sides believing that their claims are more
legitimate. One distinct characteristic of areas like
Katwaria Sarai is the lack of clarity on issues like
legality and ownership. While the DDA flats enjoy the
greatest legitimacy, a major part of Katwaria Sarai
is also considered legal, despite the lack of adher-
ence to bylaws in construction (as a result of the grey
space provided by having been a Lal Dora colony).
The sections that lie further back, as part of the
extended Lal Dora, are yet to be regularised. There
is also a distinction between DDA land, MCD land
(transferred from the DDA), and Gram Sabha land
(over which the community has authority). And it is in
the transitioning of these informal arrangements into
the framework of a formal structure that the process
of urbanisation is seen.
cled by urban development, Katwaria Sarai was
notified under section 507 in 1966 (28.05.1966). This
meant that the special provisions for rural areas
under section 507 would no longer be applicable
to Katwaria Sarai which was no longer considered
abadi or village land and was declared an urban area.
It came under the larger Mehrauli ward, and after
the delimitation exercise conducted by the MCD in
2007, it is now part of the Lado Sarai ward (ward no.
169). The municipal councillor of the ward is Anita
Chowdhary, who was elected to the seat (reserved as
a woman’s seat) in the elections held in April 2012.
The Panchayat that constituted the local governance
of Katwaria Sarai before it became an urban area
was dissolved once it came under MCD jurisdiction.
What is interesting, however, is that it continues to
exist as a village council, consisting mostly of the
elder-most members of the community. This council,
which is only made up of men, continues to hold
some sway over the community, albeit mostly with
regard to the arbitration of local and domestic mat-
ters. And while the municipal councillor does consult
with the village council for making decisions on the
allocation of funds in Katwaria Sarai, it is the Resi-
dent Welfare Association (RWA) of the DDA enclaves
which have a greater say as collaborators in local
governance.
The DDA flats in the Katwaria Sarai area were al-
located in the 1970s, from land acquired by the DDA
from the villagers. Infrastructure was provided to the
area, sufficing the needs of the ‘legal’ development
under the aegis of the DDA. This development gradu-
ally expanded to the rest of the village, as in the case
of water supply, where a single tubewell was first
laid to replace the diminishing water from the wells,

30
John
Assistant to Anita Chowdhary
(ward councillor)
Q: How does the councillor’s office decide which
developments to undertake and what budget to al-
locate, for Katwaria Sarai?
A: Katwaria Sarai is part of the Lado Sarai ward, so it
is part of a much larger area that needs to be looked
after. We have discussions with the panchayat and
the RWA, and decide which work needs to be taken
care of accordingly. There is no specific budget allo-
cation- it is as per need. Also, different departments
sometimes look after different developments (the
Jal Board is constructing a new community centre in
Katwaria Sarai, in addition to the MCD community
centre).
Q: What are some of the recent works you have done
in Katwaria Sarai?
A: You may have noticed that many of the main roads
are being relaid. We will be laying new roads as far
into the sarai as we can (depending on the narrow-
ness of the roads). We have recently undertaken
to clean up and repair the entire drainage network,
before the rains come. Also, the vacant lot around
Well no. 1, we have got it cleaned up, and benches
installed, so that it is not a public nuisance anymore.
We have plans of converting the area into a garden.

31
Naresh Garg
General Secretary, Resident
Welfare Association
Q: What purpose does the RWA serve in Katwaria
Sarai?
A: We look after the interests of the residents of
the DDA apartments in Katwaria Sarai. We also act
as representatives to communicate with the ward
councillor’s office for any complaints or requests for
resources. Since this is not a very organised area, we
need to be alert to developments that may adversely
affect the needs of the DDA residents.
Q: Can you give us some examples of interventions
made by the RWA?
A: On the main approach road into Katwaria Sarai,
there used to be an informal vegetable market (sabzi
mandi) and some chaiwallahs along the road. These
used to be open until late at night, and would attract
a noisy crowd and cause a general disturbance in the
area. Through the correct channels, we complained
about these encroachments, which have since been
removed- in the process also freeing the road side for
some much needed parking space.

32
Gulab Singh
Landlord, Member of the Vil-
lage Association
Q: What are the functions of the panchayat?
A: The panchayat was dissolved when the MCD took
over the area. Now, it consists mostly of the elders
of the community, who solve domestic conflicts
between families. We also represent our community
concerns to the ward councillor’s office, which makes
many decisions based on our recommendations.
Q: How have you seen Katwaria Sarai change over
the past 50 years?
A: It was a small village with no water or electricity.
Then DDA came, and with it, came the amenities.
Nowadays, it has developed so much, and we, the
original landowners, have become landlords for ten-
ants. Now, our children see all the money from the
rents, and they don’t want to study, or do small jobs
because it is beneath them. It is unfortunate.

33
It was mid-afternoon. Scratching his beard he threw two aces, leaned back in satisfaction and yawned. Then they
came out, the awaited words, the answers to all the questions we had asked, maneuvered by strings of history
and memories. He told us the story of the Sarai through the lens of his own birth and through the instances that
changed his own life.
In that un-plastered concrete room, midway into the construction of the future community center, several aged
men that made up the village council forgot their game of cards while conversations grew louder. The village lo-
cals automatically directed us here, as if the community center was their office, with fixed timings and functions!
The aces, the high kings, queens and the lonely jacks stood in a haphazard pile as old men straightened their
backs with the vigor that argument brings, while the light of the past shone from their eyes.

34
ANALYSIS
In the recent past, an expert committee on Lal Dora
in Delhi had put together a strategy document for
the redevelopment of the urban villages that come
under the Lal Dora classification. It was meant as
reparation to the original owners of the surrounding,
once-agricultural lands, which had been usurped from
them for urbanisation purposes with little effort made
at providing them alternate means of livelihood or
improving the infrastructure in their areas. The com-
mittee, under the directive of the Ministry of Urban
Development, feels that theirs is the noble task
of bringing the 135 urban villages in Delhi district
aboard the wave of urbanisation, so that they do not
suffer any disadvantages due to the continuing ‘rural’
character of their villages. As part of a larger plan to
‘beautify’ Delhi and allow it to take its rightful place
as the ‘pride of the nation,’ they propose to integrate
the urban villages and the old city areas into the
existing paradigm of city planning, with wide roads,
vertical growth and ample commercial spaces. The
proposals are vague and involve a variety of improve-
ments- providing modern, decent, living accommoda-
tion to the present residents; enabling painless and
desirable, limited segregation of residential and non-
residential activities; promotion of trade and com-
merce for creation of job opportunities and economic
prosperity; quick enrichment of the villagers through
optimally intensive utilisation of their land; and the
integration of ‘sub-standard’ or ‘decayed’ pockets
(Lal Dora/urban villages etc) with the surroundings of
planned residential colonies and commercial areas.
While the objective of the developmental initiative is
laudable, our concern is that, like every previous
urbanisation plan, this one too, is plunging ahead
without sufficient analysis of the existing situation.
The current mindset of the urbanisation model fol-
lows from the trend of westernization as the known
path to development. It assumes that the urban
villages are a failure of the city planning process, and
that corrective action must be taken to bring these
areas up to scratch. This mindset fails to take into ac-
count our heritage, in which we had a robust tradition
of city planning. In compasison with the current plan-
ning model, this is more ‘organic,’ as seen today in
the old-city areas of many Indian cities. Considering
the many advantages of organic development and its
greater assimilability of informal systems, and in turn
the many advantages provided by the flexibility of
informality, it would make sense to take these factors
into account while shaping the formal developmental
objectives.
In our project, as we began to comprehend the unique
microcosm that was Katwaria Sarai, and when we
looked at it in light of its current status, and the
various processes that were acting on, and shaping
this dynamic area, there evolved in our understanding
some of the factors which make Katwaria Sarai work,
what was needed for its improvement, and how the
two could be syncretised.

35
The Resilience of
Transitional Space
The majority of Katwaria Sarai is informal- the build-
ings are built with a view to maximize space without
any offsets from the site boundaries, and more often
than not, with adjacent buildings in contact with one
another; the roads are narrow and winding, and often
encroached upon by informal establishments, and
with a considerate give-and-take between the pedes-
trian users and the vehicular users; the area is com-
pact, walkable and mixed-use, with a wide variety of
services and facilities available within its boundaries.
The fact that there is not much regulation in effect
in the area, nor a rigid planning framework, means
that the public is an active participant in shaping the
spaces, with changes in requirements reflected in the
surroundings. What this results in is a space which
evolves with time, and with need. The low invest-
ment required for many of the informal businesses
means that they can be changed according to season,
the residents’ needs, according to what sells. So for
example, there are more kulfi and ice cream stands in
the summer, and a profusion of omelette and maggi
stands in the winter. Tea is a year round indispensa-
bility, for the social connotations and activity that it
represents. Thus, the place is one which is constantly
in flux, every moment being one of transition.
At the same time, a sizeable portion of the population
residing in Katwaria Sarai is transitive- they are living
here until they can afford a better place to live in,
because it is well-connected geographically, it has all
the conveniences, and it is affordable to live in. Thus,
it may not be a coincidence that Katwaria Sarai has
become a stop-gap, a bridge in the living arrange
ments of many newcomers to the city. The transi-
tional nature of the space is reflected in the tran-
sitional nature of its residents and their residency
in the space. An informal place like Katwaria Sarai
which welcomes, accommodates, and changes is a
more natural option for migrants and entrants to the
city to gravitate towards, for the hospitality extended,
one that is often missing in other parts of the city
unless one has the money to buy it. The relationship
between the people and the place thereby becomes
a complex one, one where the adaptable and tempo-
rary nature of the place attracts people of the same
nature, which in turn enhances these qualities in
the place itself. Combine the dynamism of the space
and the population, and you have a space which is
changing continuously- in its form, in its services, and
in its people. It is this transitional nature that lends
flexibility and resilience to the space, and allows it
to cater in such a tailor-made fashion, to the needs
of its residents, regardless of the ebb and flow of the
people through its welcoming atmosphere.
We would like to question the assumption that this
place needs to be homogenized with other parts of
the city. The city does not take care of every person
that enters its boundaries, and places like Katwaria
Sarai exist because there is a need for them. In this
way, Katwaria Sarai itself is an essentially informal
system, which functions so well, and has remained
so resilient because it arose or evolved out of a need,
and took root because conditions were conducive and
adapted to changing circumstances because it was
flexible.

36
is unregulated, unchecked, and unsafe- all problems
which should be, and are being, addressed. There
needs to be a syncretism between the informal
systems and the formal elements in Katwaria Sarai to
improve its standard of living, while maintaining its
organic nature. The relationship of the urban villages
with the city is essentially a multi-faceted one, where
the city cannot disown the urban villages by refusing
to provide infrastructure or facilities, but at the same
time, for the greater good of the city itself, it cannot
forcibly integrate the villages completely into its own
fabric and character.
Before road construction: Existance of
informal vendors
After road construction: Removal of in-
formal vendors
Syncretism of the
Formal and Informal
We have spoken to many residents who in the past
50 or so years, have seen tremendous changes hap-
pening in Katwaria Sarai. And while the locality is
still distinctly organic in the nature of its built fabric,
there are sporadic initiatives, in addition to a gradual
shift, towards a more homogenized urban form. The
recently tarred roads, and the subsequent evacuation
of the street vendors, the removal of a sabzi-mandi
are signs that this urbanization is bound to adversely
affect the thriving informal economy of Katwaria
Sarai. Due to saturation in the density of the area,
this loss in the informal level of the commerce is not
replaceable by an addition to the formal economy-
the need the informal economy is serving is for the
budget-constrained and the turnover is not high
enough in most cases for these small shopkeepers to
rent formal shops. The suggestions by the well-mean-
ing panel looking after the improvement of the urban
villages to rebuild this area as a commercially viable,
planned layout is equivalent to the act of razing the
village to the ground and building over it, albeit in a
more gradual manner.
We are not attempting to glorify the informal. The
very informality that allows the place to work at
one level hampers its cleanliness, effectiveness and
degree of integration with the city, at another. There
is a definite need for the infrastructure that a formal
framework provides. The roads are poorly defined,
and often in poor condition; the capacity of the drain-
age network needs to be increased and its mainte-
nance improved, as there is periodic flooding of the
streets in the monsoons; the rampant construction
activity in the hope of increased rental incomes

37
Place-Making Potential
of the Informal
That Katwaria Sarai has a character which is distinct
from its surroundings, there is no doubt. When you
travel along Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, the road is a
wide one, tree-lined, and with periodic bus stops, but
for the most part, deserted. The institutions which
lie along the road line its sides with blank walls,
inducing no communication between the inside and
outside, between the public and the private, making
the road a place strictly for travel, to be crossed at
the highest speed achievable, whether you are on
foot, or in a vehicle. The bus stops, and the juice cen-
tre strategically located near a bus stop are the only
spots on the road that see any public activity.
All that changes as you come to Katwaria Sarai.
While two narrower roads primarily lead from
Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg into Katwaria Sarai, the
stretch of main road along which Katwaria Sarai is
located, is starkly in contrast with the character of
the other parts of the road. Here, there is a profusion
of shops, both formal and informal. The sidewalk has
been appropriated by vendors of various kinds who
are considerate enough to leave space for people to
walk, the same people who will be tempted to stop
and partake of the vendors’ offerings. A variety of
sights, smells and sounds allure; the crowds of peo-
ple are at ease, for here is a place that has opened
itself to the road, is welcoming people to stop for a
while, is a destination in itself rather than a forget-
table sight on the journey.
The informal is a necessary component of a place
which is memorable, which has life and vibrancy.
seen as an evil- it is a reality which is both spurring
the growth of the formal city, and humanizing it at
the same time. The kind of cities we live in shape the
kind of people we become, and the adaptable, ac-
commodating and welcoming nature of the informal
city is one that should not be lost, for our own good.
The informal is necessary for place-making. Even
among the urban villages, each one is distinct, and
recognizable at sight by the kinds of establishments
that occupy it, and the nature of the people that
reside in it. Hauz Khas Village and Shahpurjat are
the newly upscale areas with fancy boutiques and
restaurants that attract well-dressed and well-to-do
crowds from across the city; Ber Sarai and Jia Sarai
are student hubs as a result of their proximity to the
Indian Institute of Technology and to Jawaharlal
Nehru University, recognizable by the many book
shops selling study material, the dingy hostels and
cheap food joints; Katwaria Sarai caters to students
but also to young professionals and more people with
a greater disposable income, which is reflected in
the greater variety of commercial establishments and
modern amenities like the Laundromats.
Each urban village has an identity, and much of its
identity is derived from its informal sector. By slowly
obliterating the informality and homogenizing the
spaces, these identities are being lost. There is
great place-making potential in informal systems,
one which leads to the formation of livable, human
and vibrant city spaces. While the formal approach
is often top-down, with regulations and diktats put
in place by enforcement agencies forcing people to
comply, informality allows people to get actively in-
volved in the functioning of the place they live, work,
play in. When properly facilitated, this allows people
to become more invested in their surroundings, and
take better care of it, thereby improving the quality
and standard of living. It is a lesson that needs to be
incorporated into the formal processes of city plan-
ning itself, and one which is catching on, going by the
growing popularity of the public-participatory ap-
proach to planning. The informal city cannot be Upscale alleyways of Hauz Khas Village

39
“The informal city is the bottom of the pyramid that holds up the formal city.”
~ C.K. Prahalad

40
THE WELLS OF
TIME
From the dawn of civilization, water has been an
essential element in creating habitable environments.
Where sources of fresh water were not available
above ground, wells were used to tap the wealth of
ground water, for survival. In India, with its hot cli-
mate and periodic weather cycle, year-round access
to water was a luxury in many parts of the country.
Wells were often deified in such a setting, and seen
as the harbingers of good fortune, purity, and life.
The significance ascribed to wells in India is evident
from the rich tradition of stepwells, the remains of
which survive to this day. It is said that the stepwells
were the property of the royalty, guarded carefully,
and opened to the public as a benediction of goodwill
when water ran out elsewhere.
While wells are still a common sight, and more often
than not still functional, in rural areas, they are a rare
find in cities. One of the first casualties of develop-
ment, wells are razed to the ground in the process of
urbanization, as they run dry and lose their function-
ality to piped water. And as wells disappear from the
cityscape, so do the many customs and traditions that
revolved around them, the rituals of communal life
they evoked, the cautious and conscious use of water
they engendered.
Panna Meena Kund step-well-Jaipur

41
What mystery pervades a well?
That water lives so far,
A neighbor from another world,
Residing in a jar!
~ Emily Dickinson

42
THE WELLS OF
KATWARAI SARAI
The wells of Katwaria Sarai were functional until
a couple of decades after Independence, at which
point the water started drying up. In the early 60s,
at the time when electricity and water came to the
sarai because of the DDA, the sarai received a single
tubewell connection from the MCD to supply water
to the village. Around 1967, individual water connec-
tions were given to houses in Katwaria Sarai. The
wells have long since dried up, and been in disuse.
However, they still stand, crumbling, neglected, rem-
nants of a past that is slowly being forgotten. They
remain of some religious and symbolic importance to
the families of the original inhabitants of the sarai- it
is considered to be auspicious to perform a puja at
the well when a baby is born into the family (harking
back to the days when wells were seen as a source
of life); conversely, it is traditionally considered bad
luck to raze a well to the ground.
For these reasons, the wells still stand in Katwaria
Sarai, not yet wiped out by inexorable urbanisation.
Four wells remain in existence, taken for granted in
their surroundings and strangely, at the same time,
forgotten. The wells have a history, and they have
survived the ravages of time and intense develop-
ment and densification. We want to commemorate
them, preserve them and beautify them, as symbols
of a past which has lived to tell the tale. Through
their unique-ness in the present day urban context,
and their rootedness in the history of the place in
which they stand, we wish to enhance the identity of
Katwaria Sarai through the place-making potential of
the wells- the Sarai of wells.

43
The Intervention
The wells are a striking visual landmark, on the basis
of which directions are given in the sarai. Each well
is suffixed by a number, and ask any local where ‘kua
no. 2’ is and they will give you detailed instructions,
down to the last hairpin turn in the narrow alleyways
of Katwaria Sarai. However, the wells are also sites
of neglect, left to fend for themselves against the
elements of nature, and of civilisation.
We wish to intervene, to realise the potential of the
wells in adding character to their surroundings. By
restoring and enhancing the natural structure of the
wells to work in their situated context, we aim to
make them relevant to the space again, instead of
the forgotten relics that they have become.
The Concept
Bring the water back to the wells- Drawing inspira-
tion from the inherent nature of wells as sources of
water, the rejuvenation of the wells by bringing water
back to them is in effect, an attempt to bring them
back to life. By integrating water elements in the
redesign of the four wells and their respective sur-
roundings, the idea is to stir a collective conscious-
ness of the significance these wells had in the past,
and induce a connection with the depth of history
Katwaria Sarai contains. At a functional level, the
water elements act as aesthetic and cooling features,
creating a pleasant atmosphere that fosters interac-
tion.
The Elements
As an ode to the history of Katwaria Sarai, the
structural elements resonate with its Mughal past.
Pillars and domes in wrought iron jaalis, worked in
traditional Mughal patterns, evoke a sense of the
beauty and grandeur that Katwaria Sarai must have
possessed, in the days when it was a resting place
for royalty, merchants and soldiers, from the weari-
ness of their travels.
The greenery, introduced in the form of creepers and
potted plants, adds to the oasis-like feel of the wells,
as places for gathering to rest, relax, refresh.

45
WELL No. 1
The first well is located at the edge of an empty lot,
alongside a bustling market street. On three sides,
balconies overlook the space, which was once a
dumpyard and after a cleaning drive, is now being
put to use as a parking lot. The well sits in the shade
of a large tree, with a high plinth that is broken
and unlevelled. Patches of dying grass can be seen
amidst the cars and motorcycles, some coated over
with a blanket of dust for not having been touched for
months.
We propose, in accordance with the MCD’s long-term
plans for the area, to convert the lot into a garden.
The inner section provides the green, with trees,
grass and benches. The area adjacent to the road,
where the well stands, offers space to the street
vendors to set up their carts along one side, to reha-
bilitate those vendors who have been evacuated from
the streets.
The well becomes the focal point, resting on a plinth
that acts as seating, shaded by creepers, with a small
fountain at the centre. The dome with its intricate
fretwork casts shadows and allows sunlight to filter
through and fall on the sparkling water.
1- Well
2- Paved area
3- Vendors’ section
4- Park
5- Road
6- Parking
CONCEPTUAL PLAN

47
They sat there discussing the current day, what life was like before and what their
grandchildren were doing with their lives. All three old-ladies, sat on the same spot
everyday at that same time as if their names were etched onto the concrete of the
well. The one with the least wrinkles, probably the youngest, commented on how
the best thing the MCD had done in the Sarai was to transform this dump-yard into
the garden and that to without demolishing the old well. Instead they had converted
it into a fountain. Now her grandchildren can play while she watches them. She
waited there everyday until her son came back from office, after which all three
generations walked back home for dinner.

49
WELL No. 2
‘Kua no.2,’ as it is known, is a well in the interior
areas of Katwaria Sarai. It stands as a triangular
island, in the middle of an oddly-shaped intersection.
The buildings tower around it high enough to provide
a sense of enclosure to the space, giving it the feel
of a town square or a central courtyard. The exter-
nal stairs leading to the upper floor of the nearest
building rest freely on the side of the well, uniting it
with the structure. The well, dirt-filled, has cultivated
a crooked tree that bypasses the rusted pulleys that
remain mounted on the rim, and spreads outward
from the well structure. The well houses everything
from household trash to a litter of puppies.
The MCD has proposed razing the well and erecting a
chabutra (a covered area for sitting) in its place. Our
proposal allows for the well to be retained, with the
well structure providing the seating, and the creeper-
covered canopy giving shade. The dirt-filled well is
used to grow a mini-garden, and a bird bath mounted
onto the tree attracts the fauna. The parking is reor-
ganized, and the space is opened up.
1- Well
2- Paved area
3- Stairs
4- Road
5- Parking
CONCEPTUAL PLAN

51
The tea had finally cooled enough for him to take a sip as the steam from it rose to
blur his eyes. He stationed himself at the edge of the well watching the pigeons sip
on their own drink of water that hung in the birdbaths from the peepal tree. His cart,
brimming with mangoes, was parked on one side, waiting to be seen by the morning
customers. This had become his unofficial spot, right in the middle of the commercial
junction, seen by everyone, so much so that he didn’t need to scream out to invite
people to buy his goods. Yesterday, he was not allowed to sit there; a pooja for a
new-born baby had taken place at the well and he could still see the saffron flower
remnants of it inside the niche, but today it was his spot again.

53
WELL No. 3
The third well captures the easy relationship be-
tween public and private that is evident in organic
developments like Katwaria Sarai. The well is situ-
ated in the private common-area of an apartment
complex. However, it also fronts the road, and the
beautification of the well done by the ground-floor
residents of the apartments is available for enjoy-
ment by any passer-by. This well is in relatively good
condition, because it is seen as private property and
it is located at the entrance to the residential units
of families who are owners, not tenants. This allows
the people to feel a sense of ownership for the well
and it is kept clean and potted plants are hung from
its structure.
With the prospect of good care, we propose a water
pond feature for this well, where fish may be kept
or lotuses grown. The plants are already an element
here, and the jaali dome will enhance the beauty
of the area by superimposing shadow patterns on
the well and its surroundings at all times of the day,
depending on the position of the sun.
1- Well
2- Paved area
3- Seating
4- Flat
5- Road
CONCEPTUAL PLAN

55
It was his day off from college and he had just eaten two aloo parathas, hot from the
stove, made by his mother. Tradition in his family was to sit outside after lunch and
talk a while so that the food got digested before they went indoors for their afternoon
siestas. Even in the hot Delhi summer it was cooler under the shade of the well,
probably due to the lotus pond, so he didn’t mind being outdoors. His mother talked
enthusiastically about the yatra she was going for in the coming week, modulating
her voice every time the children grew excited when the dog barked. His mind wan-
dered from her words to his life and what he was going to do after college. His father
wanted him to join the government as an officer but all he really wanted to do was
play cricket; after all it would be his responsibility as the oldest son of the landlord to
help his father later on with the renters.

57
WELL No. 4
‘Kua no.2,’ as it is known, is a well in the interior This
well is also technically on private property although
again, it is along the road, but in a low-income area,
with dilapidated surroundings. It is the least articu-
lated well, with the surface completely filled in and
closed off. The area is cramped, and in its vicinity is a
chicken house.
At the thought of development, the people we spoke
to were either apathetic or suspicious. More than
beautification, they cared about convenience and
benefit. Here, we propose that the well be turned into
a plinth that works as a chabutra, with fixed seating
and shade provided in the form of a creeper-grown
wrought iron canopy. In bringing the water back to
this well, we have designed a rainwater harvesting
system, one that would benefit the residents of the
adjoining building units by allowing them to have
an alternate source of water in face of the irregular
MCD supply. The water shall be stored in a tank
that will be constructed under the plinth of the well,
thereby allowing us to make good use of the space
above and below plinth.
1- Well
2- Paved area
3- Stairs
4- Flat
5- Garden
6- Chicken coop (existing)
7- Road
CONCEPTUAL PLAN

59
Knitting was just an act that occupied her hands and gave her a reason to sit and look at
the road. There was always something happening at this junction and the well canopy
sheltered her, making her a silent spectator to the activity. Today the donkeys distract-
ed her; they were being stubborn and refused to move towards the construction site.
Their screams were piercing her ears when one of the owners bent down and pulled
out some bramble, from under the donkeys’ foot. Reluctantly the donkey moved on as
a young man, engrossed in his phone, sat next to her, blind and deaf to everything that
happened. Her knitting needles automatically synchronized to the rhythm of his phone
texting as she watched the road, waiting to see what happened next.

61
“The city is man’s most successful attempt to remake the world he lives in more af-
ter his heart’s desire. But, if the city is the world which man created, it is the world
in which he is henceforth condemned to live. Thus, indirectly, and without any clear
sense of the nature of his task, in making the city man has remade himself”
~ Robert Park

63
CONCLUSION
Through an immersive process, we have been living
in and studying Katwaria Sarai over the course of a
year now, by day and by night, during festival times
and normal, in the rainy and winter seasons. And
while we’ve appreciated its unique character and
made note of its shortcomings, there is no doubt
that it is moving towards the same urbanization that
it is surrounded by. This year has been a snapshot
of the transition point that Katwaria Sarai is at, the
crossroads in the city’s development process, and it
has been our attempt to capture the changes that
consist of this transition. By assessing its social role
as a transitional space for newly arrived migrants to
the city before they can afford better places to live in,
we analysed the features that allowed it to function
as a bridge into the city, the physical flexibility that
shaped itself to the residents’ needs and which made
it so sought-after as a place of residence. By under-
standing its shortcomings, we examined how urban
development could uplift the place into one which is
more conventionally respectable, while at the same
time trying to understand whether that should be the
goal at all, and whether places like Katwaria Sarai
in their present avatar were necessary to the city’s
functioning. And through our exploration of possibili-
ties, we attempted to see how interventions could
be used to retain the inherent character of Katwaria
Sarai through the process of urbanisation, for a more
thoughtful development that firmly juxtaposes the
formal with the informal.
Before we hurtle further into the quagmire of unilat-
eral development, we need to understand and
incorporate the values of informal engagement as a
tool for socially inclusive and sustainable urban de-
velopment, and for creating places that are rooted in
their context. The value of informality is in its social
nature, with active public participation that creates
and sustains it. The ease of entry facilitates faster
development, and more reflexivity in answering to
needs. It is a necessary counterpart to the framework
of the more permanent and deliberate formal city. It
is time we accept the informal city in all its temporal
flexibility as an integral part of the urban identity, and
learn to harness its power in creating vibrant, resil-
ient and holistic city spaces.

64
CREDITS
Images Courtesy
Pg.1:Rajeev Thakker
Pg. 2: http://myworld-2005.blogspot.in
Pg. 8a: http://www.thetalkingbrick.com
Pg. 8b: Ville Miettinen
Pg. 9a: http://www.theaustralian.com.au
Pg. 9b: http://sslizonroad.wordpress.com
Pg. 10: http://blog.lib.umn.edu
Pg. 37: Divya Babu
Pg. 40: Claude Renault
Pg. 60: google maps
Research Links
Vohra, Garima (May 14, 2009)- Another Parched Summer in Katwaria Sarai, Hindustan
Times/Live South Delhi.
(April 11, 2013)- Delhi Govt to regularise all colonies on Extended Lal Dora, The Economic
Times, Delhi/NCR.
MENON, Ramesh 2008. What is Lal Dora Land- Delhi Master Plan. Retrieved from
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/what-is-lal-dora-land-delhi-master-
plan-513135.html
SHRIVASTAV, P.P. 2007. Report of the Expert Committee on Lal Dora and Extended Lal
Dora in Delhi, Govt. report for the Ministry of Urban Development.
(November 19, 2012)- List of Urbanized Villages. Retrieved from http://delhi.gov.in/wps/
wcm/connect/doit_land_building/Land/Home/List+of+Urbanized+Village
Soni, Anuj Kumar (January 2011)- Quality of Life in an Urban Village, Shakarpur Khas,
New Delhi, dissertation. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/
(April 2013)- Allotment of DDA flats. Retrieved from http://dda.org.in/housing/faqs.htm

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