NEW DELHI: Cutting across party lines, political representatives on Tuesday demanded that the Union Urban Development Ministry immediately issue a notification allowing mixed land use as provided in the Master Plan of Delhi 2021 in order to save lakhs of shops and commercial establishments in residential areas from closure.

This sentiment was echoed at the all-party meeting convened by Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and his Minister of State Ajay Maken at Nirman Bhavan here. Worried by the repercussions of the Supreme Court order asking the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to start sealing commercial establishments in residential areas from March 27, political representatives of the Congress, the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party said if need be provisions of mixed land use in the new Master Plan could be immediately notified so that the livelihood and employment of lakhs of people was protected.

Prominent among those present at the meeting included Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma, Delhi unit BJP president Harsh Vardhan, Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi, Nationalist Congress Party MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, senior Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar besides senior officials.

Terming the meeting as a very useful exercise, Mr. Maken said the Ministry would closely study the proposals submitted by the political parties and then try and work out how they could be incorporated in the new Master Plan of Delhi.

One of the most vocal representatives at the meeting, Mr. Bidhuri said it was high time that the Government allowed an additional floor in buildings in the new Master Plan. Also, he said mixed land use should be allowed on roads more than 60 feet wide and the Government should allow call centres and Information Technology related industries to operate from industrial areas of the Capital as this would certainly lead to generation of employment and opportunities for the local people.

Mr. Bidhuri said he had suggested that private developers should be allowed to promote residential and commercial areas with the view to meet the housing and other needs of the Capital. He said he had submitted a list of 10 suggestions with regard to villages, unauthorised colonies, resettlement colonies, industrial plots, residential colonies, farmhouses, institutional plots and participation of private developers to the Ministry.

Similarly, he said the present building bylaws permit compounding of excess covered areas of only 135 square feet in the entire building irrespective of the size or FAR allowed in the plot. He said compounding up to 5 per cent of the covered area should be allowed on each floor to allow residents to accommodate the growth in the size of the family. As for the villages, Mr. Bidhuri said there should be no need to get building plans sanctioned from the MCD for plots up to 500 square metres. However, there should be height restriction of 15 metres.

Ms. Dikshit, who preferred to listen to the other representatives, left the meeting mid-way as she was scheduled to leave for Melbourne to attend the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.

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