NEW DELHI: Former Union Urban Development Minister Jagmohan believes that the new Master Plan for Delhi-2021 is not a plan for development but simply a document aimed at legalising everything illegal, brushing under the carpet every problem, shortcoming and violation.

Mr. Jagmohan has said town planning had to be based on some basic rationale and principles of planning. "It should take into account past deficiencies, present needs and provide for the future without foreclosing the present activities," he said.

The former Minister, who was instrumental in restoring the beauty of some of the ancient monuments of the Capital and providing "city forests" around them, said a city was a living being with a soul. "Great cities are made by great minds. But going by this plan, it seems that instead of a city based on nobility, love and harmony, they want a city based on racketeering. What kind of a city are they going to leave behind for their children and grandchildren?" asked Mr. Jagmohan.

Maintaining that the plan paved the way for a "city by the traders, of the traders and for the traders" and was aimed at raking in votes in the municipal elections, Mr. Jagmohan said: "While traders are dealing in money, others are trading in votes. But such is the state of politics nowadays that the country may go to the dogs but only the next elections are important." Mr. Jagmohan said MPD-2021 would lead to a new "categorisation" in the city. "The Lutyens' Zone would be the only showpiece. The well-planned colonies like Vasant Vihar and Panchsheel would become congested like Darya Ganj and Paharganj. Darya Ganj and Paharganj would be reduced to slums, while slums would become super slums," he warned.

In allowing regularisation of more than 1,500 unauthorised colonies, regularisation of additional floors and clearing nearly 3,000 residential streets for commercial use, the only signal the Government had sent was that those who violate the laws stand to gain, said Mr. Jagmohan. "It is a perverse plan wherein the law abiding taxpayers would be forced to pay up for the illegal activities of those who violated laws with impunity," he said, adding that even relaxation in certain norms has to be based on some yardsticks. "Whether I encroach five metres or 50 metres, everything will get regularised in this plan," he pointed out.

Mr. Jagmohan said this was just not an example of good governance about which those in power keep talking about. For that matter, Mr. Jagmohan pointed out that there was no provision in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act or the Delhi Development Authority Act to regularise the unauthorised colonies. "Under what law have they done this (regularisation)?"

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