The Hindu : Marriages at farmhouses legalised

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 15, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Marriages at farmhouses legalised

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI, FEB. 14. In a complete reversal of its earlier policy on holding of marriages and parties in farmhouses located on the outskirts of the Capital, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has permitted organising of such events for a daily "misuse charge" of Rs. 40,000.

The new policy, approved by Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor, Vijai Kapoor, is an attempt to legalise, regularise and streamline holding of marriages and social gathering and other commercial activities in farmhouses, which was illegal so far.

Under the new policy, only those farmhouses which are on large roads and big enough to accommodate all vehicles coming to attend the marriage ceremonies or parties, would be allowed to hold such functions, said the Municipal Commissioner, Rakesh Mehta.

Such large farmhouses would not only have to register themselves with the Zonal District Commissioner after getting the requisite no-objection certificate from the local police, but also cannot organise marriages and parties for more than ten days in a month, he said. The booking would have to be done either through the MCD's Citizens Services Bureau or its website, where bookings of parks and community centres for marriages is done by the civic body. "Marriages in farmhouses have been allowed with certain restrictions. In this only big farmhouses would be eligible. Marriages in smaller farmhouses would not be permitted,'' Mr. Mehta said.

He warned that farmhouses which violate the new policy would be sealed by the MCD.

However, Mr. Mehta clarified that the new policy was only a stopgap arrangement till the Delhi Development Authority constructed about a dozen "baraat ghars'' across the city. The DDA has identified land for such purpose and was in the process of starting the construction work.

The new policy on marriages and parties in farmhouses, which has come after a series of meetings between top officials from the MCD, DDA and the Delhi police over the past several weeks, is a realisation of the fact that there is acute scarcity of space for organising marriages and other social gathering. People move to farmhouses as there are not adequate numbers of community centres, "baraat ghar'' and parks for organising such events.

This is for the first time that commercial activity in farmhouses in the Capital has been legalised, though after paying a hefty misuse charge of Rs. 40,000. However, farmhouse owners who are in the business said on an average they charge between Rs. 4 to 5 lakhs for holding marriages and parties. "We would collect the misuse charge from those who book the farmhouse for marriage,'' said a farmhouse owner of South Delhi.

Though holding of any commercial activities in farmhouses was banned, its owners in the garb of family function openly violated it. The civic body charged a token amount of Rs. 500 for violation. Holding of banquets, marriage receptions and parties often resulted in massive traffic jams in the narrow roads of the farmhouse area, causing inconvenience to the residents and also a security hazard.

In fact, on November 1, 2003, Mr. Mehta directed all the Zonal Deputy Commissioners to launch an intensive drive to check commercial activities in farmhouses and strictly penalise all those misusing their premises as, according to the Delhi Master Plan, no commercial activity was permitted in the farmhouses situated in agriculture green. The same month, the Delhi Chief Secretary, Shailja Chandra, directed officials not to attend any marriage reception or party in farmhouse as these were illegal.

Following this, a large number of notices were issued by the MCD, resulting in panic among farmhouse owners. After the issue was raised by Councillors, the then Standing Committee Chairman, Ram Babu Sharma, on December 3 directed Mr. Mehta not to take strong action against marriages at farmhouses in Delhi at least till December 12 as those were the days of peak marriage season.

Thereafter, at the initiative of Ms. Chandra, an effort was made to find a practical solution to this problem. Initially it was the proposed to change the land use in Delhi Master Plan. But, this was opposed by the DDA officials, who argued that it would result in coming up of malls and commercial activities in farmhouses. Finally the new policy was approved as a stopgap arrangement till the DDA built "baraat ghars'' across the city.

Meanwhile, the MCD has also begun the process of using the community centres built in the rural areas of the Capital, most of which are not in use, for organising marriages and other parties.

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