Sealing: RWAS meet Union minister to discuss master plan amendments

NEW DELHI: A delegation of resident welfare associations called on Union minister of housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri to discuss the proposed amendments in the master plan on a day the Delhi Development Authority’s board of enquiry submitted the recommendations to the authority.

The residents told the minister that if the proposed amendments were allowed, quality of life in residential areas would get degraded. Rajiv Kakria from GK-I RWA said the issue affected the lives of many people.

“Commercial establishments are shifting from local markets to residential areas and main roads because the traders need not to pay ‘use conversion charge’ here. It is important to impose higher circle rates, higher mutation fee and registration charges on those who violating norms,” he said.

The RWAS demanded a ‘misuser pays policy’ and calculation of the conversion charges of violators accordingly. “The union minister heard us carefully and said that he will rationalise the conversion charges,” said Chetan Sharma, general secretary of Confederation of NCR Residents Welfare Association.

Other demands included cordoning of residential areas from commercial stretches so that safety is not compromised. The RWAS demanded restricting the entry of outsiders in residential areas in late hours.

“In the absence of parking space, people end up parking cars on main roads and residential lanes. The minister agreed to pedestranise markets where there is no designated space for parking of vehicles,” Pankaj Agarwal, general secretary, Joint front of RWAS, said.the resolution said public land meant for parks, schools and other public facilities should not be used for building parking lots.

To control the proliferation of commercial establishments in non-notified areas, the RWAS demanded that a fresh survey be conducted through geo-spatial technology on stretches where land use is being converted illegally.

Meanwhile, representatives of 800 traders’ body met CM Arvind Kejriwal to apprise him about the problems they are facing.