Will ease mixed-use rules on narrow roads under new land-pooling policy: Delhi LG

The Capital’s new land-pooling regulations will allow mixed-use development on narrower roads, with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) considering separate norms for commercial and other activities based on road width, Delhi lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu said on Tuesday

The Capital’s new land-pooling regulations will allow mixed-use development on narrower roads, with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) considering separate norms for commercial and other activities based on road width, Delhi lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu said on Tuesday.

Sandhu said the Master Plan had laid out a roadmap for transforming Delhi over the next two decades. (HT Archive)

Sandhu and DDA vice-chairman N Sarvana Kumar said the regulations for land-pooling areas are expected to be finalised within the next two to three months.

The new Master Plan for Delhi 2047 currently permits commercial development on the ground floor, and on the first floor where a building has stilt parking, along roads 30 metres or wider. Officials said the land-pooling regulations could extend mixed-use provisions to narrower roads.

“We are still working out the modalities but it is likely that different kinds of activities will be allowed on different road widths depending on various factors. We are hoping to release these regulations in the next two to three months,” Kumar said.

DDA officials said the regulations could provide different categories or slabs of economic and commercial activity for roads measuring 12 metres, 18 metres and 30 metres wide.

Sandhu said the Master Plan had laid out a roadmap for transforming Delhi over the next two decades but would remain a dynamic policy.

“There are several such provisions in the master plan that has laid the roadmap of how we want to develop Delhi into a global city over the next 20 years. However, it is also a dynamic policy that is work in progress and we are open to suggestions. Wherever we feel that there is a need for changes, we will be implementing those as well,” the LG said.

DDA is also moving ahead with transit-oriented development (TOD) projects following notification of the new TOD policy. Kumar said the first meeting of the committee overseeing the policy is scheduled for Thursday.

DDA has identified at least 16 mature land-pooling projects that are expected to be notified soon and has received more than seven proposals for TOD projects. “Some of these are by private entities while some by government agencies. We will be reviewing these projects during the meeting and some may be approved soon,” Kumar said.

He said the new master plan was designed to be implementation-oriented, with mechanisms to monitor progress and fix accountability. For TOD projects, revised norms provide for a project monitoring committee to review progress annually. They also envisage an escrow account into which developers would deposit funds, which could then be transferred to civic agencies to create supporting infrastructure, including sewerage and drainage.

Officials also said changes to the O-zone, where recreational activities and public utilities have now been permitted, could create opportunities for private participation, particularly on privately owned land. However, they said such provisions would not legitimise existing encroachments. Illegal encroachments in areas such as Yamuna Bazar would have to be removed, they said.