Master Plan of Delhi-2041: Villages need time-bound implementation policies

Questions are being raised for a time-bound implementation of its policies for all the 365 villages that come under the rural and urban categories

Planned areas have benefitted from the provisions of the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD)-2021, but planned growth has given a miss to the rural areas and urban villages in the national capital for years.

DDA officials took action against encroachments at Batla House in Okhla, New Delhi on September 25. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

Several villages, which come under the MPD-2021, lack basic civic infrastructure because of an absence of adequate planning measures.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has prepared MPD-2041, but questions are being raised for a time-bound implementation of its policies for all the 365 villages that come under the rural and urban categories.

The DDA will hold public consultations with the residents of urban and rural villages on Wednesday.

“The public consultations are a way to understand the issues faced by various groups of people. This will help us plan the strategy for future development better,” said a DDA official.

The DDA and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), which comes under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and has been entrusted with the task to prepare MPD-2041, is planning a discussion with the villagers as part of its consultative process.

A delay in the implementation of MPD provisions and government policies has led to unplanned development, unauthorised construction and rampant commercialisation in most of these villages.

MPD-2021, which was notified on February 7, 2007, has provisions for Low Density Residential Area (LDRA) and land pooling for planned developments in villages as urban extensions.

The land pooling policy is aimed at providing 17 lakh dwelling units to meet the affordable housing requirements of the national capital, which has an estimated population of two crores.

Though the LDRA is yet to see the light of the day, the land pooling policy was notified in 2015 and the work for its implementation had started in 2018.

Bhupinder Bazad, president, MPD committee, Delhi Dehat Vikas Manch, said, “These policies have been a non-starter. The civic facilities in the villages has gone from bad to worse due to an inordinate delay in the implementation of these policies. The number of unauthorised colonies has also increased over the years. There should be a time-bound implementation of these policies.”

Of the 365 villages, 200 belong to the urban category, including 95, which were recently earmarked for the implementation of the land pooling policy.

Residents living in urban villages said they lack basic civic infrastructure such as parks, schools, community centres etc.

Paras Tyagi, president of Centre for Youth Culture and Law and Environment, who works on issues related to villages in Delhi, said, “The previous MPD had provisions for preparing a village development plan. The aim was to provide infrastructure to the public. A lot of development has happened in the villages over the years. Now, these areas need to be regularised.”

In Mundka, which has emerged as one of the leading pollution hotspots in Delhi, residents said that the government should focus on creating more green spaces.

Environmentalist Diwan Singh, who is also a member of Mundka village resident welfare association (RWA), said, “Our area is known for commercial activities. But the government should focus on developing green spaces instead of putting up more industrial units.”

Sabyasachi Das, an urban planner and a former planning commissioner of the DDA, cited problems in the execution of such elaborate development plans for Delhi’s villages. “The DDA has prepared a detailed plan for four villages in Dwarka. But it could never be implemented. Land is the biggest problem, as very little of it is available in these villages to provide basic infrastructure. Besides, the villagers often don’t agree to give up their land for development. New areas are being planned for land pooling. Planning should be done for essential services in these neighbouring villages, especially those that have pooled land.”