NEW DELHI: The presentation on the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 by senior officials of the Planning Department of the Delhi Development Authority before members of the Legislative Assembly at Old Secretariat that was to take place on Tuesday has now been postponed to Thursday.

A member of the DDA said the move would help secure more concessions in the Master Plan as the next DDA Board meeting is on Wednesday and the amendments brought in during this meeting would be known during the presentation. "The Assembly would be able to seek relief for the citizens of Delhi who have been suffering due to the ongoing demolition and sealing drives."

At the next DDA Board meeting, he said, the members would demand that while hazardous and polluting business should not be allowed in residential areas, others which are non-polluting and non-hazardous such as hardware shops, shoe stores, jewellery shops and "halwai" (sweets merchants) shops should be permitted therein as otherwise people would have to travel long distances for their basic needs.

The presentation before the MLAs had been proposed in view of severe criticism of the final Master Plan draft by the non-official members of the DDA who had charged that it was anti-people and anti-farmers as it had not given real concessions to the people who had been involved in illegalities in the past.

"We will not allow passage of the Master Plan till the time all our suggestions made during the DDA Board meeting on December 29 are incorporated. Also, as the discussion on the mixed land use will take place on Wednesday, we want the amendments suggested therein to be incorporated as well. If these demands are not met, I will resign from the DDA," said DDA Member and MLA Mahabal Mishra.

Among the suggestions that the members want incorporated are regularisation of all unauthorised colonies without any conditions, deferring of sealing of all schools by three years and permission for commercial activities on the ground floor in all village and "Lal Dora" areas. The members have also demanded that all residents of villages be allowed to keep their animal livestock and godowns for daily use and joint parking be provided by the Government agencies outside all colonies and villages to solve the parking problem.

As for the schools, DDA Member and Councillor Virender Kasana said: "We had demanded that as of the 4,000 schools, 2,000 are recognised by the Delhi Government and the MCD, in the next three years, the schools should not be sealed and should be allowed to get recognition. As for making them legal, it was suggested that this can be done by including them in the layout plan for the regularised colonies."

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