Delhi: 13 teams formed for regularisation of illegal colonies

Delhi plans to regularize over 1 million households in unauthorized colonies, streamlining processes and monitoring to prevent new violations.

The Delhi government’s revenue department is preparing a detailed roadmap to regularise more than 1 million households across 1,511 unauthorised colonies, with a focus on administrative coordination, digital integration, and monitoring mechanisms to prevent fresh violations, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

The decision follows the Union government’s announcement Tuesday that 1,511 of Delhi’s 1,731 unauthorised colonies will be regularised on an “as-is, where-is” basis, removing the requirement for approved layout plans.

As part of the plan, 13 district-level teams, one in each district, will be constituted under the supervision of the respective additional district magistrates (ADMs). Each team will comprise six members and will oversee implementation on the ground. Helpdesks are also proposed to be set up at district magistrate offices to assist residents with applications, documentation and procedural queries.

“Once an application is submitted for an authorisation slip or conveyance deed, the entire process, including issuance of the conveyance deed, is expected to be completed within 45 days,” a senior revenue department official, who asked not to be identified, said.

A comprehensive standard operating procedure (SOP) is also being finalised to define workflows and delineate responsibilities between the revenue department and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), said the people cited above. The Centre had announced that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will be handing over management and registration within the unauthorised colonies to the revenue department of Delhi government, which will require backend integration.

Under the proposed framework, the revenue department will operate the PM-UDAY portal, which facilitates issuance of the PM-UDAY card, a mandatory document for securing conveyance deeds or authorisation slips. Once finalised, the SOP will be sent for approval to higher authorities and subsequently placed before the lieutenant governor.

The decision follows the Union government’s announcement Tuesday that 1,511 of Delhi’s 1,731 unauthorised colonies will be regularised on an “as-is, where-is” basis, removing the requirement for approved layout plans. Property owners can engage architects empanelled with MCD and apply through its Swagam portal to obtain ownership rights. To curb fresh unauthorised construction, authorities plan to deploy AI-enabled drone surveys at two-month intervals to monitor changes and enable enforcement action.