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Why Delhi master plan-2041, which aims to make Capital 24/7 city & cut pollution, is hanging fire

While there is no tentative date in sight for the final nod for the implementation of MPD-2014, the Centre is examining three major components, including land-pooling policy, to clear the plan.

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New Delhi: The Master Plan for Delhi (MPD)-2041 — which lays out the capital’s development road map for the next two decades — has yet to receive the final nod from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), ThePrint has learnt.

The MPD-2041 has been four years in the making and, among other things, seeks to make Delhi a 24*7 city, promote transit-oriented development, provide affordable housing, and minimise vehicular pollution.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) — which comes under the lieutenant governor — had approved the draft MPD-2041 in February this year, after which it was sent to the MoHUA.

A senior MoHUA official told ThePrint that the ministry is examining three major components in the approved draft, which is delaying the notification of the master plan. 

According to the official, these are: land pooling, green development area policy, and proposed amendments in the Delhi Development Act (DDA), 1957.

“These components are the main focus areas, and there is no rush to finalise a decision,” the official said. “We have waited this long, and we want to ensure that the intended execution through this plan is achieved.”

The draft MPD-2041 was uploaded for public feedback in June 2021, and received 33,000 comments. The DDA sifted through the suggestions and objections, and held multiple stakeholder consultations. In April 2022, the DDA reviewed the draft while incorporating the objections and suggestions. 

The plan was to ideally come into effect in January 2022. In September last year, the central government had informed the Supreme Court that the MPD-2041 would be implemented on or before 30 April 2023, which hasn’t happened.

ThePrint reached MoHUA and DDA for official statements over WhatsApp messages. The copy will be updated once a response is received.


Also Read: How ‘unauthorised’ constructions are taking over Delhi’s urban villages marked for DDA land pooling


Land-pooling policy

Land pooling, a crucial policy for planned development, allows development in urban extensions to provide for over 17 lakh dwelling units to meet the city’s growing housing requirement.

As many as 109 rural villages located on the outskirts of the city were declared “urbanised” for this policy — which means the vacant land parcels earlier meant for agricultural activities could be used for development of residential, commercial and semi-public facilities.

The MoHUA official said the policy is being “re-looked at” to ensure its successful implementation, and changes in the current policy are being decided upon.

The policy involves consolidation of land parcels through voluntary participation of landowners.

A minimum of 70 per cent contiguous land, and 70 per cent landowner participation, is required for development works to kick-off. According to the policy, 60 per cent of the pooled land will be retained by the landowners, while the remaining will be surrendered to the DDA to make public infrastructure, such as roads and parks.

The policy, in its present shape, requires the landowners to execute residential development, either on their own or through a developer. Simultaneously, the DDA is supposed to facilitate necessary permissions for the  landowners to execute the same.

Notified twice so far — in 2013 and 2018 — the policy’s on-ground implementation has remained in limbo. 

Interested landowners are either struggling to ensure 70 per cent participation, or in gathering 70 per cent contiguous land parcels in a land-pooling sector, or both, it is learnt.

According to a proposed amendment, if 70 per cent of the landowners in a sector participate in the policy, land pooling will be declared mandatory for the remaining landowners.

Currently, the DDA’s role in the policy is that of a facilitator, and it is not directly involved in bringing landowners together to pool their land and develop the residential and commercial components.

The senior DDA official quoted above said the agency is likely to play a proactive role in the on-ground implementation of the policy.

“The policy is under discussion. Various successful models, such as the Gujarat model for land pooling, are being referred to,” the DDA official told ThePrint.

Another likely change, the MoHUA and DDA officials both said, could be DDA’s role shifting to that of a developer, which means that it will likely be involved in more development work.

Amendments to the DD Act, 1957

Proposed amendments to the DD Act, aimed at the effective implementation of the land-pooling policy, include provisions for urban regeneration, which allows landowners, private players and the government to participate in the process of redeveloping or upgrading the existing developed areas or vacant land of an urbanised village.

“Urban regeneration means re-planning, re-construction, re-development, retrofitting, up-gradation, rehabilitation, renewal, or a combination of these on an existing developed area/vacant land of an urbanised village where landowners/government/private players can participate in the process of urban regeneration as per norms set out in Urban Regeneration policies,” read the proposed amendment in a public notice issued by the MoHUA in August 2022.

In March this year, the ministry sought comments from other ministries and stakeholders regarding amendments to the Act. 

“A final decision on the proposed amendment is yet to be taken,” said a senior central government official.


Also Read: Natural surveillance, gender-friendly streets – how DDA plans to make Delhi safer for women


Green Development Area policy

The Master Plan for Delhi — in a first — will allow development activities in 88 villages, including 65 rural villages located in the greenbelt on the city’s periphery.

The policy also aims at regularising and allowing development in 23 urbanised villages within the city, where large-scale farmhouses have come up.

According to the policy, construction will be allowed and development work will be limited to agricultural, horticultural and solar fields, among others.

Farmhouses, open markets and sports facilities, etc., will only be allowed on a minimum plot size of 4,000sqm, while educational institutions, non-polluting industries etc., can come up on plots of size 10,000sqm and above.

In the absence of a policy, there has been illegal development, such as warehouses, mushrooming in these villages and residential units.

Explaining the problems in the finalisation of the Green Development Area policy, the DDA official quoted above said, “There are some issues which have to be resolved. There are two components in the policy: farmhouses and development in greenbelt villages. Efforts have been made to address the concerns of landowners for its swift implementation. It took a lot of time.”

Changes in the draft MPD 

According to senior central government officials, changes in the draft approved by the DDA will also reflect in the provisions for in situ slum rehabilitation (ISSR).

According to the records of the Delhi Urban Shelter Board (DUSIB), 675 slum clusters have been identified in Delhi and 376 are on land parcels owned by the central government. The DDA is the nodal agency for rehabilitating these clusters.

However, the DDA has received a poor response over the past two years for bids invited to rehabilitate — on a public-private partnership model — 10 slum clusters and provide just over 22,000 houses in areas including Haiderpur, Vasant Kunj, Kalkaji and Dilshad Garden.

Earlier this year, DDA officials had said that the agency was planning to revise its policy for ISSR to make it financially viable for developers.

“The draft approved by the DDA also brings a provision to consider the utilisation of vacant economically weaker section housing, which can be used to relocate residents of slum clusters where rehabilitation is not financially or physically viable,” said another senior central government official.

The official also noted that Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena had laid emphasis on improving provisions in connection with housing for the poor.

(Edited by Richa Mishra)


Also Read: Govt plan to make Delhi ‘beggar-free’ still distant dream with 5-yr rehab project at standstill


 

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