Over the last week, “work” on the proposed Crown area including the destruction and removal of trees is being carried out by the AVFO’s “ATDC”. There is no transparency on their plans and no detailed development plans (DDPs) have been created or shared with the community so far. The TDC of the RA recently sent a letter regarding this fact:
Open letter:
To the members of the non-RA appointed “ATDC” team,
We, the undersigning members of the Residents’ Assembly appointed and mandated L’Avenir d’Auroville / TDC team, herewith voice our strong protest against the manner in which the “work” on the Crown in the area of the Youth Centre / Bliss Park and near Darkali is presently being executed. These actions are done without any Detailed Development Plan, in fact without any plan whatsoever, without any transparency on what is to be built, what is the budget, what are the processes in place to select contractors, what are the systems to supervise the work and ensure a decent outcome. Similarly, there is no study whatsoever on how to deal with the change in traffic once these sensitive parts of Auroville are opened up as it seems is underway now.
While there is an agreement in the community to put the work on the Crown as a priority, a large portion of the residents of Auroville also have clearly expressed the wish and the need for proper planning processes to arrive at a sensible approach to the development of this important Master Plan (Perspectives 2025) element; planning processes which re-unite our community instead of furthering divide and conflict. Please remember the RAD which was clearly stating that before continuing any work on the ground, professional, collaborative and appropriate planning steps should be taken to ensure the best outcome. The same was the driving tenor of the Dream-weaving initiative which also was supported – at least publicly – by Dr. Ravi and the Governing Board.
We fail to understand your reason behind this haphazard and unplanned way of “construction” and as such can see it only as another indication on how unprofessionally your team functions, how the raison d’être of Auroville and the welfare of the community of Aurovilians dedicating their life for the realization of Auroville is of no interest to you and how you lack any respect for the many achievements Auroville and its residents have accomplished over the many decades.
While we know that at present your team will not stop with this unprofessional and detrimental approach, we would still like to voice the above for the record.
While we are writing this, decades-old Neem and Palmyra trees on Peromboke land near Darkali are being destroyed, clearly against the ruling of the NGT and without any notice or process.
in Service.
L’avenir d”Auroville / TDC
Allan B, Anan, Divya L, Dorle, Fabian, Island, Lata, Meera N, Natasha S, Tom G
