“A Green Valley or A Grey Corridor?”

                    

The Future Dehradun

​By Bharti P Jain

Dehradun’s rivers, the Rispana and Bindal, are not vacant strips of land waiting to be converted into traffic corridors. They are living rivers — the ecological spine of the valley. For centuries, they have recharged our groundwater, cooled our climate, and carried memory and culture alongside their waters. To reduce them to concrete channels beneath elevated roads is not only to erase their identity but to erase our own.​

A city that truly aspires to “Smart City” status must recognise that its strength lies in protecting its natural backbone, not tearing it apart for the illusion of faster travel.

Single Project, Two Corridors :-

The proposed 26-km elevated road for Dehradun is often spoken of as a single project, but in fact it is split into two separate flyovers — one over the Rispana Corridor, the other over the Bindal. This distinction is critical. Instead of one intervention, the city gets two giant concrete structures cutting across neighbourhoods and river valleys.

The impact is therefore doubled: Two rivers permanently scarred, the valley skyline broken in multiple places, and the neighbourhoods cut off from walkable access.

The whole city bears the cost. What appears as progress on a planning map could, when built, overwhelm Dehradun’s landscape, economy, and identity.

City Scale & Urban Form :-

Large metropolitan cities already carry dense skylines, wide arterials, and multiple expressways. In such contexts, elevated corridors blend into the existing built form. Dehradun, however, is different. It is a valley town with mid-rise, low-density character. Its heritage has always been tied to open vistas — rivers, canals, colonial bungalows, and forested ridges.

Having two separate flyovers will fracture this identity. The Bindal and Rispana are not drains, but heritage water systems, once lined with canals, ghats, and trees. By placing columns and decks above them, we bury rivers in shadow, making any future riverfront revival impossible.

“From streams to flyovers, from destination to bypass—Dehradun risks losing its very identity.”

Tourism, Economy & Identity :-

Dehradun’s economy thrives on its charm — tourism, education, bakeries, cafés, and a walkable lifestyle. Two flyovers instead of one means multiple localities lose their riverfront appeal, skylines, and walkability.

Visitors may increasingly bypass the city, treating it as a transit corridor to Mussoorie, Rishikesh, or Char Dham, instead of a Destination.

The project also risks splitting the city’s economy into two unequal halves:

Above-road economy: fast traffic, malls, chain outlets.

Below-road economy: heritage markets, cafés, small hotels left in shadow.

Winners will be a few big investors along the new corridors, while the city’s traditional core declines. This is not mobility planning — it is economic restructuring by concrete.

Ecological Risk: Rivers as Living Systems :-

Unlike rocky riverbeds in the plains, the Bindal and Rispana flow over soft, spongy alluvium that absorbs and filters stormwater. These natural beds recharge groundwater and regulate floods. Inserting concrete piers and decks into these systems disturbs the balance, leading to erosion, flooding, and loss of aquifer recharge.

In ecological terms, what appears as an engineering shortcut is in fact the death of living rivers.

Smart Alternatives Exist :-

• Dehradun does not need metro-scale flyovers. Smaller, distributed interventions can ease traffic without overwhelming the city.

• We can Improve choke-point junctions with flyovers or underpasses where necessary.

• Develop short bypasses outside congested hubs to divert through traffic.

• Strengthen public transport and shared mobility to reduce dependence on private cars.

• Restore rivers as green spines, with walking and cycling tracks, open ghats, and shaded riverfronts.

Such measures cost less, fit better with the city’s scale, and safeguard heritage.

​Citizens’ Appeal :-

This is not about opposing progress. It is about choosing the right kind of progress. Dehradun must decide whether to remain a city of hills, rivers, and open skies — or become a valley of concrete columns.

If we silence the rivers under flyovers, we lose not only ecosystems but also our economic vitality and cultural identity. Once buried, rivers cannot be revived; once lost, heritage economies cannot be rebuilt.

The choice before us is stark :-

A green, hill-view city that honours its rivers and heritage, or a concrete-view city that sacrifices identity for speed.

Dehradun has long been admired as a valley of schools, orchards, rivers, and culture. Let us ensure that visitors still come for its charm, not just pass through its shadows.

The Rispana and Bindal have given life to this valley for centuries. It is now our responsibility to give them a future.

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(Bharti P Jain is Principal Architect at P Jain & Co.;

Convenor, Intach Dehradun Chapter, and Member of Dehradun Citizens’ Forum.)

Elevated Roads in Dehradun are a Seismic Gamble

                 

​By Bharti P Jain

Fault Lines Beneath Our Feet :-

Dehradun has always been admired for its valley, its rivers, and its quiet charm between the Shivaliks and the Himalaya. But beneath this beauty lies a reality we often ignore—our city sits on active fault lines and in one of India’s highest seismic risk zones. In this context, the proposal to build massive elevated roads across the Rispana and Bindal Rivers is deeply troubling.​​

Living on Fault Lines :-

The Doon Valley is framed by some of the most active tectonic features in the Himalaya. The Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) runs along the valley’s northern edge, while the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT) lies just south. In addition, smaller fractures crisscross the valley itself, especially near the Song, Rispana, and Bindal catchments.

This makes Dehradun highly vulnerable to earthquakes. In fact, India’s seismic zoning map places us in Zone IV—high risk.

Why Elevated Roads Are Unsafe :-

Elevated roads rely on long viaducts and rows of pillars, often founded on riverbeds. But the Rispana and Bindal beds are not solid rock—they are loose alluvium: sand, gravel, and silt. In an earthquake, these soft layers can liquefy, behaving like quicksand. No amount of concrete can truly stabilise such ground against fault movement.

Even moderate tremors can crack pillars, tilt foundations, or cause sections of viaducts to settle unevenly. And if a major quake occurs, collapsed spans could block evacuation routes instead of helping mobility—turning the project into a death trap.

A Hidden Maintenance Burden :-

Fault lines are not static. Continuous micro-movements stress expansion joints, bearings, and foundations. This means the elevated corridor will require constant repair and retrofitting. What looks like a one-time investment today may become a long-term financial drain tomorrow.

A Safer Path Ahead :-
Rather than gambling with seismic risks, the government should focus on restoring rivers—cleaning them, safeguarding floodplains, and reinforcing embankments. Traffic management can be improved by upgrading surface roads and spreading the load through several smaller connections instead of relying on a single massive corridor. Above all, transport planning must integrate seismic resilience, moving beyond short-term engineering fixes to long-term safety.​

A Call to the Authorities Concerned :-

Building elevated roads over Rispana and Bindal may appear modern, but beneath the surface it is unsafe, uneconomical, and ecologically destructive. In a valley sitting on active faults, this is not just an engineering decision—it is a gamble with public safety and finances.

For Dehradun, the wiser path lies not in burying rivers under concrete, but in respecting the land we stand on.

​

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(Bharti P Jain is Principal Architect at P Jain & Co.;

Convenor, Intach Dehradun Chapter, and Member of Dehradun Citizens’ Forum.)

Mobility or Identity

 Dehradun’s --- economy largely come from shopping hubs, hotels, bakeries and restaurants catering to both locals and tourists.

Proposed Elevated Road Project could change this trajectory in several ways:

 

1. Shopping Hubs:

Malls (Pacific, Centrio, Crossroads) and high-street markets (Rajpur Road, Astley Hall, Paltan Bazaar) depend on through-traffic and tourist stopovers. Elevated corridors may divert vehicles above these zones, reducing casual shopping visits. New commercial centers may sprout near entry/exit ramps,  

 

2. Hotels & Guest Houses:

Mid-segment hotels thrive on overnight stays from tourists halting in Dehradun en route to Mussoorie, Rishikesh, or Char Dham.Elevated express travel could encourage direct journeys, cutting down stopovers and hotel occupancy.Only luxury hotels with destination branding may withstand this shift; budget/mid-range hotels risk losing business.

 

3. Restaurants & Cafés:

Dehradun has become a food destination (Rajpur cafés, Clock Tower eateries, bakeries).Tourist and transient traffic forms a big share of customers. If cars bypass the inner city, restaurants lose incidental diners. Food courts, highway dhabas, and roadside cafés near elevated corridors may benefit, but the character cafés of Dehradun could suffer.

 

4.Dehradun’s old bakeries:

 Where the aroma of fresh bread and plum cake has drifted through the lanes for generations. In the 1950s, Ellora’s and Sunrise Bakers became household names—serving buttery rusks, sticky-jaw toffees, and rich fruit cakes that carried the warmth of home. Their counters were not just shops, but meeting places where locals, students, and travellers shared stories over biscuits and buns.

 

Broader Economic Shift: Elevated roads risk creating a “twin city”:

Above-road economy: fast movement, chain outlets, roadside malls.

Below-road economy: traditional hubs, heritage markets, small hotels struggling for survival.The winners will be big investors along new corridors, while small businesses in the city core may decline.

 

Warning for Dehradun:

The proposed elevated road project may look like faster travel, but it comes with hidden costs:

In short: Elevated roads don’t just change traffic—they can reshape Dehradun’s economy, hollowing out the city’s identity as a shopping and food stop and replacing it with a pass-through expressway.