New land layout approval plan for Delhi in works: MCD

The MCD is streamlining layout plan approvals, allowing plans under one hectare to bypass the Standing Committee, speeding up project execution.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has begun work to simplify the layout plan approval process, under which site plans for proposals involving areas of less than one hectare will no longer require clearance from the civic body’s Standing Committee, officials aware of the matter said on Sunday. The move, they said, is expected to significantly speed up approvals.

A layout plan essentially determines how a plot is connected to the road network. (Photo for representation)

According to a proposal sent by the municipal commissioner after consultations with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), such plans would instead be approved by the Layout Scrutiny Committee (LoSC). The proposal also states that cases involving subdivision and amalgamation of plots, as well as change of land use, would no longer need to be submitted to the Standing Committee.

To be sure, the LoSC – a key panel comprising the additional commissioner, chief town planner, chief engineer (building), chief law officer, and representatives of the DDA and Town and Country Planning Organisation – already scrutinises layout plans before they are forwarded to the Standing Committee for final approval. Officials said proposals often remain pending with the Standing Committee for months, delaying project execution.

“Over the last couple of years, a massive backlog built up due to the non-formation of the Standing Committee, and several major projects were stalled. Many of these delay-related cases even reached the Supreme Court,” an official said.

The commissioner’s note to the Standing Committee notes that the process is governed by sections 312 and 313 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.

A layout plan essentially determines how a plot is connected to the road network. The proposal notes that the Cabinet secretariat, the lieutenant governor and the chief secretary of Delhi have held meetings and suggested simplifying layout plan approvals on the lines of the DDA system. Under the DDA framework, layout and site plans are approved by a screening committee, and as per the Development Code of MPD-2021, a plan is treated as a layout plan only when the area is one hectare or more.

Earlier attempts to bypass the Standing Committee have met resistance from the elected wing. Officials pointed out that the erstwhile South MCD had issued instructions on June 21, 2016, allowing approval of layout plans for areas below one hectare (treated as site plans), and legal advice from the additional solicitor general had confirmed the legality of the move. “Subsequently, the decision was reversed and another circular dated May 26, 2020 was issued, after which proposals were again sent to the Standing Committee,” the communication adds.

The executive wing has argued that there is “no rationale in submitting layout plans related to subdivision or amalgamation of plots, or change of use, to the Standing Committee when there is no change in the road network and when such changes are already permissible under the Master Plan.

However, the proposal recommends that layout plans as defined under the Master Plan – those of one hectare and above – should continue to go before the Standing Committee.

The move is significant because officials aware of the matter explain that it currently takes six to eight months to get a layout plan approved. The process begins with scrutiny by the department, where applications are checked against Master Plan provisions, zonal plans, ownership rights and land use conditions. Once cleared, they are sent to the LoSC for technical vetting.

After this, proposals are placed before the Standing Committee for approval. In recent years, due to the absence of a Standing Committee, some layout plans remained unapproved for up to two-and-a-half years. Even after the committee was constituted, with over 70 proposals pending, decisions often took up to six months.

A civic official said the proposed changes would also aid regularisation in unauthorised colonies. “The inability of MCD to sanction building plans in unauthorised colonies under the PM-UDAY scheme has created a fertile ground for rent-seeking and blackmail. MCD finds itself helpless as it cannot sanction building plans due to the lack of approved layouts,” a letter from the MCD chief town planner to the DDA stated during consultations, arguing strongly for reform of the approval process.