The Hindu : New Delhi News : Ordinance coming to extend Delhi freeze on sealing and demolitions

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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Ordinance coming to extend Delhi freeze on sealing and demolitions

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI: The Union Government has decided to bring in an Ordinance to extend by another year the moratorium on sealing and demolition of commercial properties in the Capital's residential areas. The move would benefit residents of slums, jhuggi-jhonpri clusters, hawkers and vendors.

Notification in June

The proposed Ordinance, on which work has begun, is likely to be notified in the first week of June.

It would also cover hospitals, schools and religious institutions in the Capital's rural areas. It would further provide relief to those who had made alterations in their residential accommodation without permission and buildings that had come up without any sanction plan till January 1, 2006.

Sources said Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy had along with his deputy Ajay Maken met Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to discuss the issue.

Zonal plans

It was decided at the meeting that the moratorium be extended for a year as the zonal plans for Delhi are likely to be finalised within that period. Thereafter the need for the moratorium would cease to exist.

The need for extension arose as the moratorium imposed by the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill, 2006, that had been notified in May last year had come with "instructions'' to the civic agencies to stop sealing and demolitions with immediate effect was only for a year.

Penal action

The one-year moratorium on demolitions and sealing was imposed so that an amicable solution could be found to the problem. All notices and penal action by the civic agencies had also been suspended for a year by the notification.

With the one-year moratorium now coming to an end, the authorities were compelled to extend the period as otherwise sealing and demolitions would have resumed.

Following the notification last year, the Union Urban Development Ministry had also issued "gazetted directions'' to the civic agencies, including the Delhi Development Authority and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, to stop sealing and demolitions with immediate effect.

Relocation of jhuggi-jhonpris

Another major highlight of the Bill was the provision for relocation of jhuggi-jhonpri clusters with an alternate plan and also allowing shops to function in residential areas under the mixed land use policy as per zonal plans and surveys carried out by the civic agencies.

Mr. Maken said the broad policy guidelines relating to in situ rehabilitation and relocation of slums are also expected to fructify at the ground level very soon.

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