The Delhi Development Act gives the central government broad powers to direct the DDA (or a municipal body) to notify any area they consider for “urban regeneration.” All property owners will have to participate in the redevelopment of delhi plan once a site is identified redevelopment of Delhi’s areas.
The scheme could be used in urban areas and vacant land or lal Dora land. Any site “extremely susceptible to disasters” or has many substandard or old buildings could be eligible for redevelopment, upgrading, and renewal. Unauthorized settlements and constructions on unsuitable sites and inaccessible habitations or land sites may also be suitable. These proposed changes could cause some controversy since the scope of the urban regeneration program has been extended.
The amendment proposes, “Once a block has been notified as being eligible for urban renewal, it shall be mandatory for all land and owners to be a part of their property and land to participate in the urban revival.”
Even if the threshold is not met, the government could force regeneration.
Once a sector has been notified that it is eligible for “land pooling,” the ministry proposed equal mandatory participation of landowners. After the much-hyped policy declared in October 2018 had not made any significant progress, this has been done. Participation in land pooling is currently voluntary for landowners.
The Act will now state that the DDA can notify policies regarding land pooling and urban renewal to provide legal backing for implementing these schemes.
The government claimed that many areas of Delhi have been developed in the past 100 years and that some do not meet safety and health standards for urban habitations. These areas could be optimally redeveloped or urban regeneration. There is currently no urban regeneration policy, except for the Master Plan for Delhi-2021.
Redevelopment of Delhi’s Areas
Urban regeneration will work in the same way as land pooling. If property owners reach a certain threshold, then participation will become mandatory.
Alarm bells may ring because the policy states that the central government can direct the DDA, or local body, to declare and notify mandatory urban renewal in identified blocks to ensure time-bound planned rehabilitation “not with standing that the minimum threshold for voluntary participation as stipulated in the urban regeneration strategy may not have been attained.”
Draft amendments have been made public to solicit feedback. They define urban regeneration as “replanning, reconstruction, redevelopment, retrofitting and rehabilitation (including amalgamation pooling and reconstitution plots or a combination thereof) of an existing developed area, vacant or lal Dora lands of an urbanized village.” Landowners, government, and private actors can all participate in urban regeneration.
Sources claim that the DDA will include rules defining the blocks after the amendments have been approved by Parliament.
The draft amendments state that the authority or local body will take all land it has vested and can summarily expel occupants to carry out the land pooling/urban regeneration policy. The policy states that no compensation will be paid “except as specified in the policy.”
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