Revision as of 19:29, 27 June 2017

Encroachment: North Delhi

The Times of India, Dec 21 2016

Spots identified by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation for first phase of decongestion drive, December 2016; Picture courtesy: The Times of India, Dec 21 2016

Chandni Chowk to Narela: North corpn to drive out encroachers

Mayank Manohar

North Delhi Municipal Corporation is set to remove vehicles permanently parked in highly congested markets like Chandni Chowk, Jama Masjid, Paharganj, Ashok Vihar, etc, after the NGT ordered Delhi's civic bodies to clear market areas of all encroachments. P K Gupta, commissioner of North Delhi Municipal Corporation, said they have identified 12 major places for the drive in the first phase, after which it would be expanded to other areas.

North Corporation has selected Chandni Chowk, Jama Masjid area, Tank Road, Gaffar Market, Raj Niwas, Ashok Vihar market, Narela main road, Alipur market, Jwala Heri mar ket, RG Complex Prashant Vihar, Ram Nagar, and Paharganj in the current drive.

“We will remove abandoned vehicles and start night sweeping at these places in the first phase. Old, abandoned cars not only clog the market, they also affect sanitary conditions of the area. Most of these cars have been parked here for several months, a few have been even lying here for the last couple of years. We have requested traffic police to assist us in this job,“ Gupta said. Traders in these areas are divided over the decision. “At least 15-20 vehicles have been parked in and around Paharganj market for a long time.These vehicles mostly belong to the residents of nearby areas, while a few are owned by some traders. We welcome the corporation's drive,“ Yogesh Kathuria, president of Paharganj market association, said.

Traders in Chandni Chowk and Jama Masjid area say that several proposals were made by the corporation in the past, but nothing has moved on the ground.

“They proposed several things to decongest Old Delhi in the past. Almost 25% of Parade Ground and Gandhi Maidan's multilevel, under ground parking facility is taken up by abandoned cars. Every lane of Chandni Chowk, Ballimaran, Dariba Kalan, and Jama Masjid areas is choked by several disused, rusting, and abandoned cars. Old Delhi will become a much better place once all these cars are removed,“ said Naresh Khanna, president of the jewellers' association of Dariba Kalan market.

The situation is much the same in most of the market places in North Corporation. “We have several vacant plots in Narela where we will dump the abandoned vehicles for the time being,“ Gupta said.

Land pooling

See graphic

Land pooling, benefits; The Times of India, May 19, 2017

Lessons from Narela, Rohini

Risha Chitlangia, What DDA should learn from Narela and Rohini, May 20, 2017: The Times of India

With Delhi government clearing the way for implementation of the landpooling policy -seen as a way out of the city's housing problem -there appear to be more questions than answers. Residents of the newly constructed DDA residential complexes at Narela sector G-2 and Rohini sectors 34 and 35, for example, have a common grievance: a glaring lack of civic infrastructure and amenities as basic as water.

The land-owning agency plans to announce a housing scheme in mid-June to resell close to 13,000 flats that were returned by allottees of the 2014 housing scheme: one of the main reasons for this was a lack of basic infrastructure, which was highlighted by TOI in a report titled, “On sale again, these flats lack basic infra“, on November 29, 2016.

Vaibhav Puggal, president of sector 35, pocket 5, in Rohini, said: “They (DDA) allotted flats without developing roads, markets, etc. While the agency is carrying out development work, it is not adequate.“ In Narela's G-2, residents complained of an acute water shortage. They said the current supply was inadequate to cater to the demand of 250-odd families living in the complex, which had 2,156 flats. DDA supplies water through tankers to the main storage tank in the complex. This is later pumped into houses. “There is a shortage of water. Close to 650 flats were allotted here, but only 250 families have shifted so far. People are not moving in due to the water crisis and a lack of other infrastructure,“ said Pratap Singh, RWA president.

Singh said they had written to Delhi LG, DDA vicechairman, area MLA, and then water minister Kapil Mishra about their problems, but “nothing has been done so far“.

DDA officials, however, maintained that work was on in full swing in these areas.“We will announce the new housing scheme in mid-June.Work is going on these areas to ensure that infrastructure is in place,“ said JP Aggarwal, principal commissioner, land disposal and housing, DDA.Now with land-pooling policy getting a push, the demand for water is only going to increase. In the next 2-4 years, DDA will construct close to 80,000 flats in the city , as development under land pooling will take at least 7-8 years.

But Delhi Jal Board, which supplies 900 million gallons per day in Delhi, said that it did not have more water to meet the growing demand. While getting additional raw water in the near future was a remote possibility , DJB officials said they were working on projects like recycling and reusing water apart from plugging leakages to augment the supply .

Residents said both the government and DDA should first focus on areas already developed by DDA -like Rohini, Narela and Dwarka -before allowing construction under land pooling. “When there is no water for existing flats, how will the government meet the fresh demand? Our areas should be their priority as people have invested their life's saving in these flats,“ said Puggal.

J P Aggarwal, principal commissioner (land disposal and housing), DDA, said:“We have taken up the matter of starting direct supply of water in these areas with DJB.Hopefully , this will happen in the next few months.“

In fact, DDA officials said, efforts were on to ensure regular supply of water to all developed areas. While urban planners claimed that land pooling would help in planned development, they added that it was imperative that basic amenities were taken care of, to begin with. “We should learn from past mistakes.There is a need for proper planning and enforcement to ensure newly planned areas get all essential services,“ said Sanjukkta Bhaduri, urban planner and professor, School of Planning and Architecture.