Newsletter October

 

Get ready for a housing bonanza that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is set to unleash in the next few years in the Capital. About 20 lakh residential units will come up on the outskirts of the Capital on about 24,000 hectares of land that will be developed, offering world-class infrastructure.

The next two months will see the housing authority implement its ambitious land pooling policy under the close supervision of Union Ministry of Urban Development. It is in the process of appointing two consultants for the same.

A senior DDA official said one consultant will oversee the infrastructural development to facilitate construction of world-class infrastructure and the other will look into the requirement of roads and transport facilities in the upcoming colonies.

Objective

The land pooling policy was approved by the UD ministry on September 5, 2013. The main objective is to prohibit sale of land without the owner's consent at the same time enabling private players to create housing pockets in the city.

According to the policy, a number of small holdings will be pooled and a part of land taken from the pool for the provision of infrastructure and public facilities. The DDA will provide basic facilities like education, health, water, sewerage and others amenities, while the rest of the land will be returned to the original owners for development. Another bright side of this is that after land has been pooled, the owners will get back around 40-60 per cent of the total land surrendered. So, for every two to 20 hectare land pooled, about 48 per cent will be returned to the owner.

According to DDA officials, the step will give a boost to realty development in Delhi on the lines of Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad in the National Capital Region. "We can expect construction of five to six lakh new residential units in the next six to seven years and will continue for the next 15 years," said a senior DDA official. According to the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2021, the Capital has still about 27,000 hectares which can be developed as sub-cities. MPD-2021 has divided the Capital into 15 planning zones (divisions) designated from 'A' to 'P'.

Officials said the authority has earmarked land at many zones, including zones J, K, L, N, P1 and PII for development. According to the projections in the master plan, nearly 24 lakh residential units are required for an estimated 23 million people by 2021.

A senior DDA official admitted that the largescale acquisition policy as per the earlier version of the Delhi Master Plan adopted in 1961 had failed to keep pace with the rapid pace of urbanisation witnessed in Delhi.

"The land pooling policy was proposed in the new master plan only to fill the huge gap of residential requirements. This will replace the present model of acquiring and disposal of land by the DDA," the official said.

In the last 50 years, DDA has acquired 75,609.84 hectare land and developed it for residential, recreational, commercial and institutional purposes. Now, with better and holistic planning, the housing authority intends to set new records and provide more amenities to people.

A DDA official said the authority now envisages wider public participation to bring in more transparency by inviting objections and suggestions.

Moreover, for each 1,000 Ha of the pooled land, the government would be able to provide a housing stock of 50,000 dwelling units for the economically weaker sections.