One year later, DDA still to notify green belt land plan

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is yet to notify the Green Development Area (GDA) policy, which was put in the public domain in February last year, to allow planned development in greenbelt areas, especially peripheral villages, in the Capital. The policy allows educational institutions, medical facilities, agricultural activities, big parks, sports facilities and non-polluting industries, among others, to be constructed in these villages.

Once the policy is in place, 88 villages, mostly rural ones located on the periphery, can be developed, officials say. In 65 villages located on the city’s periphery, such as Dhansa, Mitraon, Tikri Kalan, Kapashera, parts of Rajokri, Ghumanhera, Bamnoli and Bijwasan, no new construction, either residential or commercial, is allowed as of now. There are 23 villages such as Chattarpur, Devli, Sultanpur etc which are Low Density Resiallowed dential Areas, which are covered under the proposed policy.

A senior DDA official said, “The GDA policy is a forwardlooking policy for the holistic development of greenbelt and neighbouring areas. It is being finalised. It will be part of the 2041 master plan of Delhi, which will be notified soon.”

The policy allows for construction based on the size of the plot. The minimum land required, a senior official said, is 600sqm, where permitted development works will be limited to agricultural, horticultural and solar fields, among others. Farmhouses, open markets and sports facilities etc will be

on a minimum plot size of 4,000sqm, while educational institutions, non-polluting industries etc. can come up on plots of size 10,000sqm and above.

Landowners in greenbelt areas say want the government to finalise the policy soon.

Bhupinder Bazad, president of the master plan committee of Delhi Dehat Vikas Manch, said, “Landowners in these villages, especially the peripheral ones, are uncertain about the future as the government is taking a lot of time to notify the policy. Currently, villagers are neither able to sell their land or perform agricultural activity. There is no clarity on what is going to happen.”

With the land-owning agency taking measures to operationalise the land-pooling policy (another policy being implemented very close to the villages covered under GDA), land owners say that a decision regarding GDA should be taken at the earliest so that development work in their villages can start simultaneously.

“We want the government to finalise the policy at the earliest. People in peripheral villages have been deprived of basic infrastructure for a long time. People need space to construct new houses; we need schools and colleges in these areas and commercial development will allow people an alternate source of income,” said Bazad.

Meanwhile, experts say the consolidation of land through village development plans (VDPS) is essential for the implementation of the GDA policy.

Paras Tyagi, who heads the Centre for Youth Culture and Law and Environment (CYCLE), a policy research group working in villages of Delhi, said, “This is important so that farmers who own land on narrower roads can also gain from the proposed development activities, else this policy will lead to distress-andlure sales. Landless village-based communities will be overlooked and nothing will happen except land monetisation. Gram Sabha land and the Gaon Sabha funds can be used to prepare VDPS.”

It will be part of the 2041 master plan of Delhi, which will be notified soon. SENIOR DDA OFFICIAL