The Indian Express   08.08.2012

624 illegal colonies await L-G nod to be regularised

With its sights set on the 2013 Assembly elections, the Delhi government took the first steps towards regularising unauthorised colonies on Tuesday.A list of 624 colonies to be regularised has been sent to Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna for final approval.

According to the Urban Development department, the list of 624 colonies has been cleared by the Archaeological Society of India (ASI), the Forest department, Delhi Development Authority, Rrevenue department and the MCD.

State Urban Development Minister Dr A K Walia said, “These colonies have been cleared by all other agencies. Of the 624 colonies, 202 are on private land and the remaining on government land.”

The entire exercise is expected to benefit at least 40 lakh people, constituting 25 per cent of the electorate. Another 293 colonies are to be regularised in the second phase. The process of regularising the remaining 700 is also underway, said officials.

The regularisation, once approved, would mean residents in these colonies would now be eligible for registered sale deeds as opposed to ownership under power of attorney. Land owners in these colonies would also be entitled to loans against registered property and the government would be able to undertake development works under MLALAD Schemes.

After distributing “provisional” certificates in 2008, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had promised regularisation of these colonies if the Congress was voted to power for a third successive term.However, since 2008, the Delhi government had made little progress in granting full amnesty to the residents of the unauthorised colonies.