Delhi Master Plan 2041 To Usher A New Era Of Development, Says Union Minister Puri

The centre has incorporated the provision of regeneration and redevelopment of old houses and group housing societies in Delhi Master Plan of 2041 and proposed to increase the floor area ratio, Hardeep Singh Puri said.

Master Plan 2041, which is in final stages now, is going to be a visionary document to usher a new era of development of Delhi, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister said on Wednesday.

"It will have policies for regeneration of existing colonies and development, greenfield development through Land Pooling and Green Development Area policy and build modern infrastructure in Delhi,” he said.

He added that ‘Sabka Vikas’ in the city (Delhi) is being assured by ensuring urban development through various mechanisms.

Puri's statement assumes importance as Delhi is witnessing the civic polls for which the campaigning has picked up in the city. Addressing a presser in Delhi, he made the following points:

• Urban Transport is the backbone to city infrastructure, therefore public transport connecting various parts of the city along with walkability and cycling provisions are the enabling provisions in the forthcoming Master Plan of Delhi 2041.

  Delhi spreads over an area of about 1500 square km. Census 2011 indicated its population as 1.6 crore. Now it is the most populous urban agglomeration in the world (second only to Tokyo) with around 2 crore citizens. Delhi’s population in 2041 is estimated as 2.92 crore.

  The city of Delhi has a built form which is more than 50 years old. The housing colonies developed in the 1970s by DDA are Hauz Khas, Shekh Sarai, Malviya Nagar, Munirka, Rajinder nagar, etc.

• Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for group housing was 133 in the 1962 plan till 1981, it was enhanced to 167 in the 2001 plan.

  In 2021 FAR was enhanced to 200, and regeneration FAR (after demolishing and rebuilding) is envisaged in the master plan for Delhi-2041, at a fixed rate ranging from 260 to 340, depending on the plot size, larger the plot size, higher the FAR.

  The provision of regeneration has been incorporated in the Draft MPD 2041 which will help the people of Delhi to redevelop/reconstruct their old dilapidated structure with provision of enhanced FAR to make their living condition better and safe.

  The above provisions would cater to increase in Dwelling Unit size/ number of dwelling units and toilets to cater to increase in family size and population, improvement in layout, accessibility through road network plan and improvement in parking.

• Greenfield development, emphasis has been laid on development of urban extension areas through land Pooling, where areas will be developed by Public private partnership.

  The Land Pooling portal was launched in February 2019 and till now, 7,087 applications have been received from the land owners expressing their willingness to participate in the scheme.

  As on date, around 7,400 hectares of land has been pooled. Notices have been issued in 6 sectors to form consortiums where more than 70 per cent land owners have shown their willingness and there are many more in the pipeline.

The Minister said that for implementation of the Policy, a continuous stakeholder consultation has been in the process. During these consultations, various teething problems like mutation of land, stamp duty, contiguity of 70 per cent pooled land etc. have been identified. 

To resolve these bottlenecks in implementation of Land Pooling, government has decided to facilitate the participants of land pooling by way of amendment in DD Act 1957, wherein the concept of mandatory pooling (to achieve the contiguity in a sector) has been proposed.

The proposal is being placed before the Parliament.

Talking about the steps taken by Government to improve the living conditions of jhuggi dwellers as per the guidelines of PMAY (Urban),  Puri said, “In Delhi there are 675 clusters, out of which 376 clusters (comprising 1.72 lakh households) are on DDA and central government lands. 

"DDA has completed a survey of 210 clusters, wherein application forms of the dwellers have been taken through digital mode. The survey work of the remaining 166 will commence immediately after municipal elections and will be completed by March 2023.”

There are 299 JJ clusters where the responsibility for rehabilitation has been cast on Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, which falls under Delhi government. Unfortunately, no work has been carried out till date, said the Minister.

DDA has embarked upon a mission to fulfill the housing aspirations of Delhi residents. The schemes are estimated to cater to the needs of 1.35 crore citizens.

The government has already constructed 3,024 dwelling units in Kalkaji where the possession of EWS units is underway to eligible jhuggi dwellers of Bhommiheen camp.

“Within next few months, we are going to complete the Jailer Wala Bagh Project, wherein 1,675 JJ dwellers will be rehabilitated on similar lines. Another project, namely Kathputli Colony is underway, which is likely to be completed in next year.”, added the Minister.

The Minister also touched upon the steps taken by the government to improve the standard of living in unauthorised colonies.

He said, “It is estimated that, approximately 8 lakh families reside in unauthorised colonies (UCs). Under PM–UDAY scheme, 16,626 authorisation slips/Conveyance deeds have been issued.

"In order to improve the standard of living in these colonies, government has notified the development control norms of UCs wherein the residents/RWAs can come forward as part of Regularisation/Regeneration scheme.

The norms provide incentives to the residents of these colonies to redevelop and have proper access, facilities and a better quality of life. These norms provide incentive FAR to facilitate such a regeneration process.”