Embarking on a Development Dream

Three sectors in Zone N near Bawana and Sultanpur Dabas have accumulated enough land to qualify for development under the land pooling policy. Though final verification is pending, the Delhi Development Authority has invited the landowners to form a consortium that will oversee the development of housing

With three sectors in one of the five zones demarcated for the land pooling policy accumulating the required amount of land, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has now invited landowners to form a consortium so that the area can be developed.

The five zones under the policy are further divided into 109 sectors, each of which is required to have a minimum of 70% contiguous land.

“The idea behind the minimum requirement of 70% contiguous land is that we want to avoid what happened in Gurugram where development took place in certain pockets and later there were issues such as waterlogging,” said a senior DDA official associated with the project.

With Sectors 17, 20 and 21 of Zone N, which is near Bawana and Sultanpur Dabas, qualifying for development based on internal exercises carried out by the DDA, the urban body recently met around 550 landowners who had applied under the policy.

“We have asked the landowners to form a consortium so that development work for the group housing societies can start. We will guide the development of the first few sectors as the landowners are not aware of how to monetize the project or how to build a city. Technically, the consortium is responsible for carrying out the development of the area by building housing societies, but the DDA will assist them initially,” the official said.

The final round of verification still remains to be done by the Delhi government’s Revenue Department for which the land-owning agency has already requested for nodal officers to be appointed. Once the department completes the verification process, the consortium is required to approach the DDA to divide the land 60:40, as per the policy. “In 40% of land, schools, hospitals, roads and other utility facilities will be built by various government agencies. The idea is to build a self-sustained township so that residents have all facilities near their residence,” the official said. The rest of the land will be used for housing by the consortium.

While Zone N has accumulated around 3,200 hectares of land, Zone P-II (near Narela) and Zone L (near Tikri Kalan) have accumulated 1,200 hectares and 1,600 hectares respectively.

“GIS mapping for the other zones is underway and once the internal exercise of verifying the applications is done, it will give us a better idea of the other sectors that are likely to be eligible for development,” added another senior official.

‘Self-sustained townships’

With the urban body looking to develop “self-sustained townships”, officials said that existing “accessibility issues” need to be resolved for better prospects.

“Currently, there are some accessibility issues and for that planned roads need to be executed. Once everything becomes interlinked, the areas will flourish. The distance to Narela and Bawana might seem a lot right now, but once the area is developed in its entirety, things will improve. Additionally, areas like Bawana Industrial area have enough employment opportunities, which means people will not need to travel far for work. All facilities will be at close proximity,” the official added.

The much-awaited land pooling policy, which was approved by the Centre in October last year, has projected around 17 lakh dwelling units for approximately 76 lakh people in Delhi. While officials said there can be “no deadline given” for such a policy as it would depend on the respective consortiums for the development work to be carried out, they added that the idea is to “transform the Capital”.

“Development work to be carried out in the first few sectors will be test cases for us as well. This is because such a policy is a first for Delhi. Unless we test it on the ground, the proper assessment will not be possible. The Land Pooling Policy is a golden opportunity for Delhi as it will help in transforming the national capital into a world-class city,” the official added.

Courtesy:- https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/embarking-on-a-development-dream/article30070741.ece