Friday, June 17, 2011

No more relaxation for Capital’s urban villages - Hindustan Times

No more relaxation for Capital’s urban villages - Hindustan Times

Constructing a house in rural and urbanised villages across the city will not be a cakewalk anymore. What’s more, brace yourself for innumerable rounds to the MCD office if you are planning to even carry out minor repair work at your house. Residents of rural, urbanised and Lal Dora villages will now have to get their building plans sanctioned by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) before they even think of moving a single brick from their house.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), while allowing sub-division of plots in unauthorised regularised colonies, also added a new clause in the building bye-laws. This was done through a notification dated January 17 this year.

“Under this, the protection or relaxation that was provided to village abadi (villages) in Delhi has been done away with. All existing exemptions with respect to sanctioning of building plans in village abadi will cease to exist from the date of notification of these regulations,” said a senior MCD official on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“According to the concept of Lal Dora, which has been in existence before independence, the original residents of the villages could carry out any construction or construct a house without taking any sanction from the local civic body no longer exists,” added the official. The notification would affect areas like Chattarpur, parts of Hauz Khas, Jasola and Jia Sarai, among other areas.

The official said sanctioning building plans in these villages would be a difficult task, as no layout plan which earmarks infrastructure facility in those area exists till date. “The notification also said that MCD will have to make layout plans of these villages. Clearing building plan applications before the layout plan is in place will be a difficult task. So people who want to carry out any construction will now have to wait till the layout plan has been made,” added another official. The notification has been circulated within the MCD departments.

According to the official, every resident of the 700-odd rural and urban villages, which caters to a population of approximately 30 lakh, would have to get a building plan sanctioned before starting any sort of construction work. “This spells trouble for around 30 lakh residents, as they have been carrying out construction and repair work of their properties without getting any sanctions, as they were given a relaxation. Now, for every minor construction or repair work that they carry out, they will have to take the building department’s permission,” the official added.

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