The Hindu 13.12.2011
‘Visionary' Master Plan for Delhi
The process of amending the Master Plan 2021 for Delhi has begun and soon the government would set up a committee to work out ways to develop Delhi as a clean and beautiful city, Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday.
The Master Plan “has to be visionary, keeping the next 25 years in mind,” he said.
Replying to a debate on the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Bill, 2011, in the Lok Sabha, which he introduced earlier, he said the Bill was aimed at giving the government time from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014, to give effect to and for orderly implementation of government's programmes, strategies, schemes, guidelines, policies and plans to improve jhuggi-jhopri clusters, regularise certain institutions that were rendering cultural and religious (including spiritual, health care and educational) services.
The Master Plan was notified on February 7, 2007, which provided for its review and revision every five years.
Modifications
The first review of the Master Plan, which was on now, would lead to necessary modifications in the existing guidelines for matters such as land use, notification of new commercial and industrial areas, regulation in influence zone along metro lines and industrial areas along with floor area ratio changes.
Mr. Nath said the revised Master Plan would not only cover unauthorised colonies and village abadi areas, but the whole of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
The Bill was aimed at providing relief and minimising avoidable hardships and irreparable loss to the people of NCT Delhi against any punitive action by any agency in respect of the persons covered by the government's policies.
Jhuggis (slum dwellings) posed a major problem to the administration. Over 90 per cent of the labourers who came from other States for construction activities for the 1982 Asian Games remained in the Capital. Such jhuggi clusters kept on increasing since then and the government would find a solution for this, he said.
Mr. Nath also announced that part 2 of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) — the Central government's programme for developing infrastructure in the urban areas — would be implemented from the next year.
Earlier, Sandeep Dikshit (Congress) made a strong plea for providing statehood to Delhi (presently it is NCT Delhi) to improve the infrastructure in the capital and to provide more autonomy in the management of law and order and economics.
Vijay Bahadur Singh (BSP) highlighted how the “permanent cold war” between the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had made life miserable for the Delhiites.
‘Grave errors'
Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP) referred to the “grave errors” in the Master Plan 2021 and claimed that the authorities acquired farm lands in the Capital at throwaway prices and sold it at exorbitant rates to the builders and the affluent. Delhi had thus gone beyond the reach of the common man, he alleged.
