The Hindu : Front Page : Major relief for Capital's schools, shopping centres

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 08, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Major relief for Capital's schools, shopping centres

Sujay Mehdudia

Centre issues new notification amending Master Plan for Delhi-2001

NEW DELHI: Offering major relief to lakhs of children studying in public schools located in the Capital's residential areas, the Union Urban Development Ministry on Thursday issued a notification amending the Master Plan for Delhi-2001 allowing these institutions a year's time to get legalised. It also gave relief to major shopping centres that have come up in the city's residential areas.

However, liquor vends in residential areas, professional or commercial use of basements, banks and gymnasiums in the elite A and B category colonies will not be allowed.

The notification allows all schools functioning from the Capital's residential areas to get recognition and secure sanction plans approved by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi within a year or face closure.

Other major beneficiaries of the notification issued on Thursday afternoon are likely to be the big marketing hubs in the city's residential areas that have been facing sealing and demolition action.

These areas include Rajouri Garden, Kamla Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Rajinder Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Rani Bagh, which could now get covered under the 100 per cent commercial category. In addition, the notification allows commercial activity on all Master Plan roads including plots facing Ring Road or Outer Ring Road.

The notification states that "all those areas would be notified as commercial streets and commercial areas by the local authority where more than 70 per cent of the plots abutting roads in Right of Way exceeding 24 metres on a stretch of at least 300 metres in regular plotted development are under commercial use; where more than 70 per cent of the properties abutting roads of width less than 24 metres on a stretch of at least 100 metres in rehabilitation colonies, regularised unauthorised colonies, resettlement colonies, Walled City, special area and urban villages and local commercial streets declared under the Master Plan for Delhi 1962".

Similar relief would be given in the E, F and G category colonies where 80 per cent of the residential plots are under mixed land use or if there are 300 shops within a contiguous area of one hectare. Identification of such streets would be done on the basis of field surveys to be conducted by the MCD within a specified time frame.

Pedestrian shopping centres

In the E, F, G and H category colonies with roads of six metres and more notified for mixed use will be declared as Pedestrian Shopping Centres where vehicles will not be allowed.

Coaching centres and institutes have been given one year's time to wrap up their activity and get relocated in commercial areas. In the A and B category colonies also no banks and gyms would be allowed after the issuing of this notification.

The Government has also disallowed banquet halls in residential areas as also liquor vends.

The plots owners and allottees on these commercial streets and areas would have to pay special conversion charges at rates approved by the Union Government in respect of the built-up areas used for commercial purpose provided that such area does not exceed the residential development control norms applicable to the plot.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page