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Councillors blame DDA for the crisis in Capital

Sandeep Joshi

`Authority failed to recommend areas with commercial activities for mixed land use policy under the new Master Plan'

NEW DELHI: Finding themselves helpless in the wake of court orders on action against unauthorised constructions and illegal shops operating from residential premises in the Capital, Municipal Councillors have now started training their guns on the Delhi Development Authority accusing it of not approving at least 30 roads recommended by it for bringing it under the mixed land use policy and making timely changes in the Master Plan for Delhi-2001 keeping in mind the changing civic scenario.

Alleging that DDA failed to thoroughly survey the city and properly shortlist roads and areas with large-scale commercial activities, Leader of Municipal Corporation of Delhi House Jitender Kochar said while formulating the Mater Plan for Delhi-2001, the DDA authorities failed to identify roads and residential areas with almost 100 per cent commercialisation.

"DDA failed to recommend such areas and roads for inclusion under the mixed land use policy, leading to the present crisis. It seems that that those in the Master Plan Committee did not move out of the boardroom to take stock of the situation on the ground. Had they added more roads and areas for mixed land use, several areas and traders who are now facing the civic body's sealing and demolition squads could have been saved," said Mr. Kochar.

Interestingly, Mr. Kochar these days is busy holding parleys with the Councillors of his party as well as with that of the Bharatiya Janata Party trying to prepare a "bailout plan" for traders and residents and present it to Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy under whom DDA falls. "We will soon meet Mr. Reddy to impress upon him the urgency to take some pro-active measure on the issue. We will also be sharing our concerns with the Supreme Court-appointed committee formed to monitor the ongoing sealing exercise," he said, adding that the Government's only priority should be removing encroachments from public land and stop ongoing illegal constructions.

The Leader of the Opposition in the MCD House, Subhash Arya, is also critical of DDA's role in the entire episode. "In 1997-98, the MCD had recommended 19 roads in West Delhi to be brought under the mixed land use policy, but DDA approved only six of them. Similarly, names of more than a dozen roads falling in Rohini and its adjoining areas were also sent to the development agency but here too no action was taken. And it is these same roads where the sealing exercise is going on," he said.

According to Mr. Arya, the problem had occurred as of the 15 zones demarcated by DDA to make Master Plan, zonal plans of only six were have been prepared. So the remaining nine zones could not be included under the mixed land use policy. "We are ready to prepare zonal plans of the remaining zones within a week and DDA should agree to include these areas under the current Master Plan to solve the prevailing crisis and give relief to traders," he added.

Stating that the Bill about which the Congress leaders have been talking to stop ongoing demolitions and sealing would not give much relief to the people of Delhi, Mr. Arya said there were only two ways out of it.

"The Khanna Committee should come out with a kind of an amnesty scheme to give relief to those who have done unauthorised constructions, while for those with illegal shops, only appropriate changes in the Master Plan will help," he added.

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