Apeejay’s Architecture School presents village development plan to District Magistrate 

In one of the recent developments, Prof Anand Khatri and Ar Binita Bose from Apeejay Institute of Technology (AIT) – School of Architecture & Planning (SAP), Greater Noida made a presentation on Kalonda Village Gram Panchayat Spatial development plan to the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar, Shri Manish Kumar, and the CDO, Shri V N Shukla, DPRO Shri Virendra Shukla. 

Specialists on Villages and Urban Villages, they talked about the connection of ecology in the village plan development process to the Gram Pradhan Shri Raju Nambardar, Shri Sikandar Hayaat, Shri Shakeel, and others from the villages of Gautam Buddha Nagar. This project is a continued effort of the research cell at AITSAP. The director of AITSAP is Prof Vivek Sabherwal. The other members involved with the work of the Research Cell are Architect Anam Ibraheem and Architect Unnati Mishra. Ms Unnati Baranwal is working with the research cell to assist with GIS. AITSAP students of the 8th Semester 2025, urban design, and the 5th Semester 2024 research, aided in Kalonda village research.

Kalonda, one of Gautam Buddha Nagar’s last villages, is being planned by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as a model village. Saving villages will save our cities. A village master plan like the city master plans in India is in progress under the guidance of a Technical and Policy committee set up by the DM GBN. This Master plan is a satellite-based plan supported by NRSC and RRSC. This village plan is one of the first 34 other villages undertaken by MOPR in India in 2025. Apeejay School of Architecture and Planning is working with the leading institutions, NIIT, SPA, and IIT, to improve the country’s architecture and planning of village growth.

GBN has several urban villages that are important to the city’s economy. The DPRO is formulating a committee under the DM GBN to build capacity for higher education institutions in GBN and work on urban villages and villages of GBN. 

Apeejay Research Cell Head Prof. Anand will be  playing a significant role in steering this work. The DM and the CDO feel this will make the upcoming educated generations more accepting and prepared to rethink them. The district would pioneer this giant leap of being inclusive and a bottom-up, people-centric approach to planning.  

Sharing his thoughts on this project, Prof. Anand mentioned, “Villages have been the root of our social, cultural, and urban development. They are the most forgotten realities, connecting our future to our past.  When we fix our gaze on the vision of आत्म निर्भर भारत, we see villages at the top of the list. As an institution of higher learning, AITSAP has adopted the purpose of working for villages and urban villages of the Gautam Buddha Nagar district. Architecture and Planning are needed for this focus, and AITSAP has it all.”

He further added, “With a small team comprising a planner – Ar Unnati Mishra, an urban expert- Ar Binita Bose, and an urban-GIS support, Ar Anam Ibraheem, and an intern Ms Unnati Baranwal, we have been working on this project with full support and encouragement of the director Prof Vivek Sabherwal. The faculty spends personal time and all hours spare from the educational curriculum for service and learning.”

Highlighting the rules of actionable research and the perspective of a Green and sustainable world today. Prof. Anand said, “What appears to be just a village is now being mapped using GIS – Geographic Information System. The vision of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is to work in villages using the most advanced technology, so that the work is future-enabled. The future of our cities is the “Agrorbanization” or the “village city” with walkability, social resilience,
non-motorized transport, local cattle, agriculture, and culture.”