The Times of India               27.10.2010

JAIPUR: Rajasthan's urban development and housing on Tuesday issued a notification governing land use changes across all local bodies in the state. The new law of 2010 will regulate all kinds of land use change from residential to commercial and vice versa. The Jaipur Development Authority and other such local authorities will be able to regulate land use changes as per the government plan from time to time. As per the new law, municipal committees can now approve land use changes up to 3,000 sq m instead of 2,000 sqm earlier. For the Nagar Parishad the limit has been kept at 4,000 sqm while development authorities could approve up to 5,000 sqm.

All committees at local bodies will now have to hold monthly meetings to dispose cases of land use and if a person applies for converting commercial land into residential, no fees would be charged. Within two years of such change, the applicant has to construct at least 25% of the plot otherwise an additional 10% of land use change charge will be collected. The new law also says that within four years of the land use change the applicant has to construct, otherwise his conversion will be void.

The  Times of  India                    27.10.2010

Now, DDA to maintain its flats

NEW DELHI: From whitewashing walls and staircases once in three years to repairing balconies every decade, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has finally agreed to undertake the maintenance of its flats in the city.
A slew of decisions was taken on Tuesday in the authority meeting, where it was formally decided to go ahead with the proposal to charge a maintenance fee from DDA housing owners at the time of allotment for the upkeep of the housing complex.

The maintenance fee, the details of which were worked out in the meeting (see box), will be charged from house owners from the next housing scheme, and will be for the maintenance of housing units for the next 30 years.
The authority also approved the release of funds for Northern Access Road, which would provide an alternate route to IGI Airport. The funds of Rs 31.40 crore, which will be handed over to Airports Authority of India, will also provide much-needed connectivity to Dwarka and surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, the authority also signed an MoU with the city of Barcelona in Spain for undertaking joint initiatives in urban planning, specially in the area of heritage conservation, public spaces and urban renewal.

The MoU will start by concentrating on the Walled City area, which has been the focus of redevelopment plans of several other agencies. "We will benefit from the experiences and expertise of Barcelona for redeveloping the old city. There is lot of potential for exchange of ideas in planning, technical level implementation and administration level," added L-G Tejinder Khanna, who also heads the DDA.

The areas for co-operation are many under the MoU. From redevelopment of the old city areas, specially government-owned properties on a priority basis as well as promote privately owned properties, the DDA cell will also look to come up with a policy for integrating historical monuments and precincts in the layout plans of the city. It will also undertake development of urban public spaces and infrastructures, designing the upgrade of selected public squares and public urban infrastructures in Delhi. The meeting also paved the way for conversion of land use in the Dheerpur residential scheme phase I, which is no longer residential.

According to Delhi Development Authority officials, the opinion of experts, who felt the land was better utilised for water harvesting, was accepted and a decision in this regard was taken to use the land for recreational purposes, as well as building a water body.