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Bid to resolve pending issues facing the Capital

Sujay Mehdudia

Union Urban Development Ministry adopts pro-active approach

NEW DELHI: Suddenly the Union Urban Development Ministry has been stirred into action so far as Delhi is concerned. Issues that had been lying untouched and decisions that had been pending for years are now being revived with the Capital being the focus of this pro-active approach.

Thanks to the elevation of New Delhi MP Ajay Maken as the Minister of State for Urban Development, things have started moving in the Ministry for the residents of the Capital. Be it the new Master Plan for Delhi-2021, re-structuring of the Delhi Development Authority, protection of the environment, water bodies, heritage, regularisation of unauthorised colonies, mixed land use, relocation of jhuggi jhonpri clusters and, last but not the least, rehabilitation of vendors and hawkers, for the first time all issues are being addressed. Mr. Maken is working hard to ensure that issues that have faced the people of Capital for years and have not been resolved for some reason or the other are taken up and sorted out.

The latest is the decision to regularise unauthorised colonies. It is learnt that a Cabinet note on regularisation of these colonies has already been circulated and a final decision on this issue could come within the next two to three months. The issue had been hanging fire for the past more than a decade. And when the previous National Democratic Alliance Government finally took the decision to regularise around 1,071 unauthorised colonies in 2000, it could not be implemented due to resistance from the former Union Minister, Jagmohan. It is understood that the Congress president Sonia Gandhi is also keen that issues facing the Capital should be sorted out to the satisfaction of all and she is understood to have conveyed this to Mr. Maken during her recent meetings with him.

Officials in the Urban Development Ministry have welcomed the approach of Mr. Maken to issues concerning Delhi. He has prepared exhaustive notes on the major issues facing the Capital. "Things have started moving in the Ministry now. The Ministry bothered little for Delhi's concerns during the tenures of the previous NDA regime. But now a pro-active approach has been adopted which is already showing results,'' a senior official remarked.

Many feel that the "present mess'' is the result of the failure of the previous NDA regime to finalise the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 taking into account the ground realities. Ever since he took over as the Minister of State, Mr. Maken has been holding weekly meetings to review not only the developmental works being undertaken by DDA but has also been monitoring the preparation of the new Master Plan for Delhi that will be out in the next few months.

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