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Lok Sabha elections 2019: IP Extension will vote for revamp of area, say residents
For over a decade, residents of IP Extension in east Delhi have been struggling to get permission to redevelop group housing societies as per provisions of the Master Plan for Delhi (MPD)-2021. Developed in the mid-80s, IP Extension is one of the few planned developments in the densely-populated East Delhi parliamentary constituency.
For over a decade, residents of IP Extension in east Delhi have been struggling to get permission to redevelop group housing societies as per provisions of the Master Plan for Delhi (MPD)-2021.
Developed in the mid-80s, IP Extension is one of the few planned developments in the densely-populated East Delhi parliamentary constituency. Days before Delhi goes to vote in the general elections, residents said they would support the party that promises redevelopment and better infrastructure.
Most cooperative group housing societies in the area have been developed as per the Master Plan for Delhi-1962, and the area has little provision for parking.
“Most societies don’t have adequate parking space and vehicles have to be parked on main roads. The MPD-2021 allows for redevelopment of existing areas. But we have been denied permission by government agencies,” said Madan Khatri, general secretary of the Indraprastha Vistar Sahakari Awas Society Mahasangh (an umbrella body of 119 cooperative group housing societies in IP Extension).
While the central government has redeveloped East Kidwai Nagar and plans to do the same in seven government colonies in south Delhi as per the redevelopment provisions in MPD-2021, IP Extension residents said they have been denied the same benefits.
“This time, we have decided that we will vote for a party which will help the area redevelop. It is strange that the MPD has been amended to legalise illegal developments, but government agencies are stopping the implementation of MPD provisions,” PP Jain, a resident of Brothers’ Apartment in IP Extension, said.
As election campaigning enters its last leg, candidates of all three political parties said redevelopment of the area is an important demand.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) East Delhi candidate, Gautam Gambhir, said, “I stand by their demand. Our local MLA OP Sharma, also a member of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), is already working on the issue. It is stuck due to administrative reasons, but we will ensure it comes through. We will try to make it a part of the Prime Minister’s smart city project.”
But Atishi, the Aam Aadmi Party’s East Delhi candidate, blames the multiplicity of authorities in Delhi for the planning and civic infrastructure mess in the area, while also pushing the party’s full statehood agenda. “The DDA, which is the land-owning agency in Delhi doesn’t come under the Delhi government. The problem of parking and other civic issues can be easily managed if there is one agency talking all important decisions. This is why we are pushing for full statehood.”
Apart from parking, locals said water supply has become another matter of concern, with massive unauthorised constructions around the planned settlement. “The water pressure is so low that we all have to install pumps to suck the water to fill our tanks. Due to this, unclean water often enters the water pipelines. The pressure on water supply has increased due to the informal settlements around the area,” Manoj Sharma, president of Delhi Rajdhani Apartments, said.
The Congress’s candidate from East Delhi, Arvinder Singh Lovely, said the state and the central governments failed to ensure planned development in the city, especially East Delhi. “In the last five years, the area has gone back by 10 years. Today, vehicular pollution is the highest in East Delhi as little has been done to provide public transport and resolve the parking problem. My focus will be on taking up projects for planned developed,” Lovely said
