The Crown Controversy

Two General Meetings were held in the community. At the first meeting (10th September), Auroville’s Town Development Council (TDC) presented its plans for the Crown, which included the proposed width of the Right of Way allowing for buildings on either side of the road, and the results of their recent survey of the land over the proposed route of the Crown. There was some contention at the meeting’s beginning, with one Aurovilian demanding that questions about the TDC’s legitimacy be addressed. Once a couple of Working Committee members reassured the meeting that these issues would be addressed, the presentations began. While a question/answer section had been announced in the agenda, time was running short at the meeting’s end, so the TDC only took questions from the community, and agreed to provide answers in another, as-yet-unannounced, forum.

The second general meeting (17th September) was called by some residents and planners. In this meeting, a more detailed presentation about the Crown area was given by Prashant, who formerly worked in the TDC. Architect Suhasini outlined the norms of urban planning processes, pointing out that the present process was contravening it by progressing from the initial conceptual plan directly to manifestation on the ground, bypassing some essential planning steps. She also highlighted some of the bureaucratic-legal discrepancies surrounding the appointment of the TDC members. This was followed by a question and answer session.

In recent days, the Secretary has continued to meet with groups of Aurovilians. She has invited some of Auroville’s architects to come together for a ‘Dreamweaving’ process on the Crown, to see what can be manifested from community expertise. In the meantime, the TDC has continued its activities. Clearing of vegetation and cutting of trees by TDC has been going on in some areas, sometimes close to residents’ homes. There have been various requests to the TDC to halt this work until community agreement has been reached - the status quo was unclear at the time of going to press.

A group of 100+concerned residents has also sent a letter to the TDC and other working groups that lists a number of outstanding questions and concerns about the TDC, “around issues of framework, professionality, values and ethics”. The document cites concerns about: “a serious lack of regard, accountability or transparency”; the sidelining of significant professional contributions; a lack of information sharing; the continued clearing of forest without informing the community; and that the TDC’s actions have not been in alignment with Auroville’s basic human values and ethics.

In this issue, we present five articles concerning the manifestation of the Crown. Two articles pose the same questions about planning the Crown to two different ‘players’: the TDC, which gave its answers in writing (elsewhere on this page); and Prashant, an Aurovilian landscape architect and urban-planner, whose interview is presented on page four. This page has two reflection pieces; and on page five we publish an interview with Elvira, a change management consultant who discusses the challenges of collective processes in Auroville and how these have been playing out in relation to the Crown issue in recent weeks.

Events are continuing to unfold daily. We will keep our readers updated in subsequent issues.