Transit-oriented hub coming up fast in East Delhi

The policy, which was put in the public domain for comments, will be tabled in a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) meeting on Thursday and then sent to the Union housing and urban affairs ministry for approval.

Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday reviewed Karkardooma’s Integrated Development of East Delhi Hub, which is Delhi’s first Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) project with officials saying that the work on the project has picked up pace as the Centre is soon going to notify the TOD policy.

An artist’s impression of the upcoming project at Karkardooma in east Delhi. (SOURCED/From DDA’s presentation)

The policy, which was put in the public domain for comments, will be tabled in a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) meeting on Thursday and then sent to the Union housing and urban affairs ministry for approval.

Spread over 37.42 hectares, the ₹1168-crore project will have residential, commercial green spaces.

“Advised VC, DDA to firm up an activity-wise timeline for each phase of implementation to facilitate close monitoring and time-bound completion of the project. Also advised the team to prepare a blueprint for the implementation of the PPP component of the project on priority,” Baijal tweeted.

The TOD policy, which is aimed at sustainable development around rapid transit facilities such as Metro, was notified in July 2015. It couldn’t be implemented due to objections from the public against DDA regulations issued in 2016. In March 2017, the Union housing and urban affairs ministry directed DDA to review the policy.

DDA officials said that the mixed-use development will have office complexes at walking distance and will be connected to Karkardooma metro stations, which is an interchange between Blueline (Vaishali to Dwarka) and Pink line (Shiv Vihar to Majlis park). It will also house one of the biggest residential complexes in the densely populated east Delhi with 6,518 flats, including 1,992 for the economically weaker section.

“It will have various amenities like schools, dispensaries, library, cultural centre, community halls, convenient shopping, community spaces, creche etc. Environmentally friendly/ green building features, skywalk connectivity and cultural centre are other notable features of the project,” the L-G tweeted.

In 2019, DDA prepared a plan to develop areas around five Metro stations — Dwarka Sector 18, Dwarka Sector 21, Mayur Vihar Extension, Mukundpur, Sarojini Nagar and INA (combined). A DDA official says that these stations were selected based on high footfall and the scope for real estate development.