Public hearing for proposed amendments to Master Plan 2021 will resume on Monday
NEWDELHI: The public hearing on objections and suggestions to the proposed amendments in Master Plan Delhi 2021 could not be completed in the slated two days till Saturday, officials said. Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials said they will resume the hearing on Monday before the final notification to announce the amendments is issued.
On Saturday, the second day of hearing, DDA officials took up suggestions and objections from resident welfare associations (RWA), lawyers, experts, common people and representatives from political parties. However, the officials said they could not tackle the entire set of over 700 responses despite conducting the hearing for the whole day on Saturday. “We will resume the public hearings on Monday,” an official said.
Sources said that Monday’s cases would include a representation by BJP Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari, among others.
On Friday, the hearing was conducted in two shifts, while on Saturday it continued for the whole day at DDA’S INA office.
During Friday’s hearing, RWAS and experts from School of Planning and Architecture had questioned the authorities’ rush to tweak laws in the proposed amendments in the master plan to provide relief to the traders from the impact of sealing.
The land-owning agency had on February 2 proposed three amendments to the master plan — a uniform floor area ratio (FAR) for shop-cum-residential complexes, reduced penalties and regularising agricultural godowns — a decision aimed at providing relief from the crisis emerged due to the ongoing drive in markets across the city.
Normally, after approving changes, 45 days are given for seeking suggestions and objections from the public. However, the Union housing and urban affairs ministry had reduced the period for public scrutiny of changes in the master plan to three days from 45 days earlier this month.
“The DDA, which comes under Union government, is clearly misguiding traders and people of Delhi by claiming that it is trying to find a solution to sealing. How can they resolve over 700 complaints in three days,” said AAP MLA and DDA member, Somnath Bharti.