Registry papers will help us fulfil many long awaited dreams, say locals

New Delhi

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Standing on the stairs of her brick house in northwest Delhi’s Raja Vihar, 46-year-old Asha Devi looked elated.

Holding the registry documents of her 25sqm property in her hands, Devi said that she couldn’t have been happier. “The security and the feeling of owning a house has sunk in only today. The registry means that our home will not be razed now. This is a much waited relief for us,” she said.

She now hopes of being able to get a bank loan against her property.

Devi was one of the 20 residents of two unauthorised colonies — Raja Vihar and Suraj Park — who were handed over the registry papers of their properties by Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday under the PM-UDAY (Pradhan Mantri-Unauthorized Colonies in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojna).

Asha Devi and others, who got the registry papers along with conveyance deed or authorisation slips from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), can now apply for bank loans. Her plans to reconstruct her house, however, will take some more time.

A senior North Delhi Municipal Corporation official said building plans for new construction or modification can’t be sanctioned in the 1,731 unauthorized colonies, even if the owners have ownership rights over properties, till the time layouts of these colonies are prepared and approved.

A senior South Delhi Municipal Corporation officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, too said that the layout plans first have to be approved by the DDA in order for building plans to be sanctioned.

On its website, the DDA has said that for the layouts to be approved “fire clearances of the colony and the properties therein from the Delhi Fire Services, government of Delhi” is required.

However, a senior DDA official said that the land-owning agency is in the process of relaxing the development control norms for all 1,731 soon to be authorised colonies and has already started the process of issuing conveyance deed or authorised slips

The Central government had in October last year decided to confer ownership rights to nearly four million residents of 1,731 unauthorised colonies. A senior Delhi Development Authority (DDA) official said, so far around 57,000 people have registered themselves on its portal to apply for ownership rights.

“I have been living here for the past 20 years, but could never build a proper house. Half of it is tin and bricks. The floors were cemented only a few years ago. Every time, we thought of making it pucca, the civic body officials would tell us that it will be demolished. I just feel relieved,” said Asha Devi, who works at a factory.

The Raja Vihar colony came up in 1995, when a farmer cut out plots and sold it to people, said locals. The area mostly houses low-income households and is dotted with open drains and heaps of sewage that lay strewn by the roadsides. Every house shares its wall with another. Most are three-four storeyed structures. Sewer lines were laid five years ago, but have not been connected yet. All houses have piped water supply here.

Suraj Park, with bigger plots comprising middle-class households, is better off in terms of civic amenities like wider roads, drainage and streetlights. However, with the process of registry of houses starting, residents hope that the area will be developed with parks and healthcare facilities, as the work of registry of houses has begun.

However, reconstructing houses for locals of both colonies might be tricky. Residents will have to first get their building plans approved from the municipal corporations of their areas, which is subject to fulfillment of development control norms and approval of colony’s layout plans.

“Those who fulfill the norms — such as road width, right of way — can get their building plans sanctioned. However, the preparing of layouts for the entire area will take a while, as it’s a long-drawn exercise,” said a senior DDA official.

Meanwhile, others who got their registry papers on Friday, said they can now get an education loan for their children against their property.

“Finally, I have got the ownership of my own house. The biggest benefit is that I can now apply for bank loan,” said Ram Kumar Bharadwaj (66), a retired government employee who owns a three-storeyed house in Suraj Park, near Rohini.

Some locals, however, were sceptical. Roshni Kumari, who teaches at a primary school said, “There is no clarity about the scheme. Will we be able to redo our houses? Will the MCD not threaten to demolish anything that is newly constructed? Many years ago people were granted similar ownership certificates, but that did not bring any change in how we live.”