Delhi Development Authority (DDA)
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Vacant land owned by DDA
2014
The Times of India Nov 17 2014
Suhas Munshi
Vacant Plots Nearly Size Of Lutyens' Zone
The Delhi Development Authority is sitting on vacant land worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the capital, the consolidated size of which nearly equals the area of Lutyens’ Delhi.
Incredibly, DDA had little idea about the extent of its holdings till the results of an internal survey came in 10 days ago. It revealed that the authority owned 5,484 acre of undeveloped land, including thousands of square metres in locations like Vasant Kunj and Defence Colony.
If all these plots could be put together in one place, it would yield a 22sq km patch of land — around 85% of the area of 26 sq km Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone.
The survey, for the first time, has given DDA a clear picture of its realty assets. It is now getting in touch with former MLAs and MPs of these areas to help decide how these lands could be developed. The survey has been uploaded on the authority’s website. It also gives details about thousands of square metres of land, par ticularly in east and north Delhi, that have been encroached . The area under litigation is around 300 acres.
Knowledge of vacant land will enable DDA to plan better. For instance, 756 acres of public-semi-public land space in various pockets of Rohini means opportunities for amenities such as hospitals and schools in the area. The huge chunks of land marked for residential use, for instance 54,600 sq m near Dilshad Garden, of which two-thirds is encroached upon, could be freed and used to solve the housing crunch in east Delhi. Around 2,000 acres of land, mostly in north Delhi, which DDA hasn't planned for yet, is a pool whose land-use DDA could decide on a need basis.
The report also provides transparency in DDA 's real estate management, which is often subject to charges of corruption. The authority is working towards uploading layout plans of each of it plots.
“This is for the first time in DDA 's history that the whole inventory of land, whose worth we estimate to be more than Rs 1 lakh crore, has been compiled and put in the public domain.Technology is being leveraged to ensure its protection and monitoring,“ said Balvinder Kumar, vice-chairperson, DDA.
He added that uploading details of the land would serve to prevent underhand deals and the possibility of DDA officers colluding with the land mafia.
Kumar said, with this newly acquired information, DDA was looking at auctioning land that has been earmarked for commercial use. “ Also we are looking to redefine land uses.The land use was earmarked a long time ago. Based on current needs, we may change industrial land use to residential,“ he said.
DDA has earlier changed the status of several pockets of land to `mixed use'. As housing now has a higher priority than before, the authority is looking to tap into its combined land pool to identify sites for group housing societies.
December 2016: 1,613 acres acquired but not occupied
The Times of India, December 18, 2016
Dipak Dash Lack Of Synergy With Delhi Govt To Blame: CAG
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has lost 1,613 acres of land, which is three times the size of President's Estate, even after acquiring them as it failed to take physical possession of these land parcels. DDA has admitted this to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) citing how the land acquisition law enacted during UPA benefited original land owners.
CAG in its latest report on management of land by DDA management of land by DDA has highlighted how the lack of coordination between the authority and Delhi government resulted in failure to procure the land parcels for development. The central auditor has referred to 1,566 acres of land in its report, which fall in Bakkarwala, Tikri Kalan, Malikpur Kohi Rangpuri, Bamnoli, Nasirpur, Kirari Suleman Nagar and Madanpur Dabas.
“It was noticed in respect of seven cases of acquisition, although the awards for acquisition of 2,052 acres of land were announced before January 1, 2009, physical possession of only 486 acres of land was received up to October 2016. As such, land measuring 1,566 acres has not been received up to October 2016. The acquisition of this may lapse in view of the enactment of Right to Fair Compen sation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. This, the purpose of acquisition of land would get defeated, delaying the benefit of development to citizens , “ the report said.
TOI in April 2015 had first reported how the land acquisition Act of 2014 had benefited a section of landowners in Delhi.In a series of judgements, the Delhi high court had even scrapped acquisition of several acres of land in Delhi by government agencies, some of them dating back to 1986. DDA officials had admitted that about 150 such judgements had come and that they had written to the Delhi government and urban development ministry to probe whether there was a collusion between farmers and land acquisition collectors.
The land parcels were returned to owners due to section 24 (2) of UPA's land acquisition law of 2013, which says where an award has been made five years or earlier from the date the act came into force in 2014, the land award can be cancelled if physical possession of the land has not been taken or the compensation has not been paid. The CAG also mentions this provision in its report.
History
1957- 2023
Ekta Chauhan, May 1, 2023: The Times of India
Since 1961, the DDA has been the single largest builder in Delhi. Its original objective was to provide a framework of development for the national capital’s new and chaotic growth. It gradually moved into constructing houses for Delhi’s growing middle class — a section which, though not wealthy, could afford to pay for DDA houses.
History of DDA
DDA was set up through the Delhi Development Act passed in December 1957. As the city received millions of refugees in the aftermath of the Partition along with an increasing population of public and private sector professionals, it was expanding without a comprehensive plan. The broad objective of this new body was to promote development of the city in accordance with the Master plan.
The newly formed body reflected the Nehruvian ideals of the time. As the city and the country faced riots and displacement, Nehru gave the vision for the capital city: “We have to build a noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell”. Just as the British Lutyen’s was created with assistance from western planners, the master plan was a modernist dream created with inputs from the Ford Foundation from America. According to AK Jain (74), who retired as the Commissioner (Planning) of the DDA: “The PM was concerned about the masses living in slums at the time and wanted to remedy the situation. He wanted to take a unified planning approach for this new city and make it a model of urban development for independent India”.
The first Master plan sought to create six “ring towns” from Delhi’s periphery, each with its own “economic, social and cultural ties with the central city”. The central idea of the planning was not only to bring order but also to plan beautifully. The Master Plan suggested that beauty “should pervade the design of all public and private buildings: modern industrial buildings in attractively landscaped grounds, pleasing shopping centres, simple and beautifully designed schools and homes”.
The DDA took over the sole responsibility and authority of directing the city’s growth and planning. It accumulated a large amount of land, totalling over 50,000 acres, for construction and redevelopment projects, while private development came to a halt in the city.
Partha Mukhopadhyay, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, in an article titled Delhi’s modernist dream proves a far-fetched fantasy describes the DDA’s approach of taking control of the entire city as a public project, with the aim of transforming it into an imperial capital.
As the mammoth task of DDA started, six broad types of housing projects could be identified: First, infrastructure upgrade of existing housing (such as Rajendra Nagar and Nizamuddin); second, rehabilitation of slums; third, public housing built by DDA with a focus on resettlement followed by plotted development schemes planned by DDA and undertaken by private players (such as Safdarjung and Janakpuri), fifth cooperative housing societies and finally facilitation of infrastructure of unauthorised colonies (in cooperation with other departments such as MCD for over 200 colonies like Aadrash Nagar).
These flats were allotted on the basis of a lottery system and anyone who did not have property in Delhi could apply. This encouraged people from middle and lower middle class backgrounds, and also those who had migrated to Delhi from other parts of India for jobs, to invest in housing. It was seen as a progressive step towards achieving social and economic equality as it was said to eliminate nepotism and corruption in the allotment process.
Commenting on the design philosophy of the flats, Jain says: “The focus while designing and constructing was that the property should be usable for at least a generation of roughly 30-35 years. The design had to be a balance between modesty and functionality. At the time, owning your own house automatically meant you would climb up the socio-economic ladder and thus, in a generation perhaps move to a better house.”
Criticism
DDA and the authority that it exercised were never beyond criticism. Even in 1957, as the Lok Sabha debated the DDA Act, members of the Opposition argued that the new land monopoly would result in the government acquiring agricultural land from farmers at low prices and selling it later at higher rates, thereby becoming the actual speculator.
In his 1973 study, late Ashish Bose, a prominent Indian demographer, criticised DDA for prioritising land development to maximise profits rather than focusing on housing programmes. Despite claiming to benefit low-income groups, affordable housing was not developed, resulting in persistent housing shortages and unintended urbanism. Meanwhile, DLF emerged as the leading developer of Gurgaon, operating outside of Delhi’s boundaries.
DDA and the master plans have also been criticised for reflecting colonial planning ideals and promoting centralisation as this was the only development agency placed directly under the central government and not the state government.
Historian Gyan Prakash, in his article The Urban Turn, says that “underlying the power granted to technocratic elites and experts, such as Le Corbusier, was the understanding of urbanisation as the pinnacle of the nation’s social and political development… This removed planning from the scrutiny of democratic politics”. It was believed that the Master Plans would “tame” the city, essentially creating an image of the city for the world rather than planning for the people.
According to a policy review paper Critique of the Post-Colonial Indian Capital City State by urbanisation researcher Nipesh Narayanan, the core master plans have remained the same even with the 2021 Master Plan that aims to “create a world-class city”.
Despite the criticism of DDA’s administration and regulatory land policies, its housing projects have contributed significantly to shaping the city’s landscape. In fact, without active realisation, these housing colonies have come to define the architecture of the mid-20th century Delhi.
Debjoy Mitra , an architect based out of Delhi, says that “despite DDA’s failure to meet their projected number of houses to be made, the agency has played a decisive role in both constructing and facilitating housing projects. As of 2020, the agency had built four lakh houses. An estimate by the DDA and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) suggests that almost 31.67 percent of housing in Delhi is through the DDA either directly constructed or through the facilitation of plotted housing development”.
Modern housing, traditional elements
The DDA built housing can be typically divided into Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)/Janta flats (33.84 per cent of the total housing built by the DDA), Lower Income Group (LIG, 33.30 per cent), Middle Income Group (MIG, 17.37per cent), and High Income Group (HIG, 15.49 per cent). Mitra elaborates, “The typology followed by the DDA built housing was based on the size of the unit and the number of bedrooms. The layout was functional but with large generous rooms with proper natural light and ventilation from all sides. For the units built till around 2005, the rooms were generous by planning standards and airy and naturally ventilated”.
DDA regularly also commissioned services of established architects like Raj Rewal, Kuldip Singh, Charles Correa among others to build their houses.
While modernist architectural principles primarily influenced the DDA’s housing designs, they also incorporated traditional elements to create a unique fusion of old and new. One example is the Yamuna Apartments in Alaknanda, designed by Ranjit Sabikhi and completed in 1985. The complex offers a refreshing blend of traditional Indian architectural elements and modern design principles. It has 280 dwelling units spread across 35 blocks, with a mix of two, three, and four-bedroom apartments. The key traditional elements in Yamuna Apartments include courtyards (like traditional Indian havelis), jaalis, and chajjas (perforated screens and horizontal shaded balconies) and staggered terraces.
Tara Apartments in South Delhi, designed by Charles Correa in 1975, is another example of the DDA’s vernacular housing designs. The 160 units complex was designed to house families displaced during Partition. All the apartments look onto the central courtyard space, which functions as a community space much like the traditional Indian mohallas. In addition, this modern interpretation of the traditional Indian street is designed in a way where the staggered housing units create terraces to shade the courtyard and thus make it comfortable during the hot summer months.
Sakshi who lives with her parents in Tara Apartments says “though our flat is smaller than most of the colony houses nearby (developed by private builders), the common areas make up for it. Our small balcony is our favourite place as I have grown up talking to my friends across the courtyard from here. Now my mother talks to her friends from here and is also growing some kitchen plants. I don’t think we would get such a neighbourhood anywhere else in South Delhi now.” She says there is also a small fountain area in the courtyard which creates a nice atmosphere, especially in the evenings. “There are problems of course since the infrastructure is old now and every other month we need to make some repairs. Parking is another problem since these colonies were designed at a time when cars were not so common. Now every family has at least two cars,” adds the 27-year old.
Commenting on the changes in the typical layout of the houses, Mitra says, “the architecture and layout of these DDA flats were very modern. The design principles allowed for the maximisation of daylight and natural ventilation, shaded and intimate green spaces, and spacious interiors. All of these characteristics are still visible to this date, even though most of these housing complexes have undergone massive changes over time.” However, the DDA houses built after 2005 and the shift from low-rise to high-rise buildings marks a change that will well and truly alter the skyline of the city of Delhi, and not necessarily for the better.
“The new 13-storeyed in-situ slum redevelopment project in south Delhi’s Kalkaji has ushered in this shift. These newer, denser constructions also do not have natural light and ventilation like the earlier ones did,” notes Mitra.
Taking a backseat
However, over the last few years, the DDA has taken a backseat as private players have emerged as more dominant. The demand for DDA housing has also seen a dip since 2014, which has made DDA only a “facilitator” of the Master Plans. As most of the land in the city has already been developed and transferred to the MCD for governance, the major areas that remain with the DDA are on the periphery, such as Dwarka, Narela and Rohini.
In order to continue with its mandate of serving the housing needs of the masses, the DDA needs a makeover to keep up with private builders and address the criticisms it faces. The existing DDA complexes are in desperate need of a facelift. The DDA must step up its game and bring in fresh ideas for architecture and sustainability in its projects.
Mitra also highlights the sharp increase in the number of people surrendering their allotted houses “with complaints of inadequate spaces, no proper ventilation and a lack of basic urban services as the reasons attributed to the surrendering of allotments”.
Talking about the defining role DDA played in urbanising the city, Raghubir Singh (83) of Khirki village says, “I am older than the DDA and born in a Delhi that was still largely rural. For people like us in the villages (now urban villages), the DDA colonies symbolised sheher (city). Between 1960 and 1990, all of our farmland was developed by the DDA. Those who lived in their planned “pucca” houses represented the modern citizen for those of us still living in semi-permanent houses. Now things have changed, and our village probably has better houses than the flats since they have never been upgraded.”
A check on encroachment
The Times of India Jan 08 2015
DDA staff to check encroachment
Less than two months after an internal survey revealed that the Delhi Development Authority was sitting on undeveloped land roughly the size of Lutyens' Delhi, the authority has discovered more such `goldmines' in the capital.
It now turns out that DDA's vacant landholdings in Delhi total 7,000 acres, 1,500 acres more than what the survey revealed.
Part of this additional land was added by DDA's assistant engineers after being directed to file an affidavit stating no more undeclared DDA land remained in their zones. Some local politicians and social workers also helped DDA identify their land parcels across the city.
DDA now owns 1,742 plots in various zones of Delhi, about 90 of which are encroached upon and close to 40 under litigation. The greatest chunk of vacant land, ready for development, is in Narela (northwest Delhi). South Delhi, too, has yielded a surprisingly large chunk of 145 acres. The results of the first-of-itskind internal survey of DDA land, completed in November, revealed that the authority owned 5,484 acres of undeveloped tracts in the city. The authority is now working to protect and develop its recently discovered gold mine.
“Identifying our land parcels was quite tough. Nobody wanted to share information. I had to ask engineers to sign affidavits that no more undeclared land lay in their jurisdiction and push other agencies to reveal information. Several individuals came forward to help,” said Balvinder Kumar, vice-chairperson, DDA.
The next step is to protecting the land that’s not yet been encroached upon. “We have uploaded information of all our resources on a cloud-based software, which can be accessed from anywhere. Our officers have been given android-based smartphones and have been asked to photograph land par cels in their jurisdiction,” said a senior authority official.
The official added that these photographs carrying a geographical time-stamp will be periodically uploaded on the software. The procedure is meant to instill timely monitoring of the land and accountability for DDA 's engineers.
DDA has also engaged a private firm to satellite-map and photograph its land. “The photos will be compared from time to time and construction or any deviation will be reported to our quick response teams,“ Kumar added. DDA has set up five QRTs to protect its lands.
The third step, one of planning and allotting its vacant lands, will be taken in a few days. “ After we get all the data, we'll begin utilizing the land optimally . We want to give land to group housing societies, for construction of flats for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and for high-end luxury flats, for flats for senior citizens, and for social infrastructure including hospitals,“ said Kumar.
Burari land “exclusively“ rented to Nirankaris
Risha Chitlangia, Jan 28 2017: The Times of India
Since 2012-13, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has blocked a large chunk of land in Burari “exclusively“ for events organised by Sant Nirankari Mandal. The site measuring 2.38 lakh sq m (23.8 hectares) is not available to the general public as it can't be booked online despite a direction from the then lieutenant governor, Najeeb Jung.
“Blocking this site exclusively for Sant Nirankari Mandal since 2012 essentially allows perpetual possession of a large chunk of land (23.865 ha approx) by the Mandal as this site is not available for online booking by general public,“ said Jung in a note to DDA in February 2016. He objected to this, saying that it “usurps the booking rights of general public“. TOI has a copy of the note.
In 2015 and 2016, the site -located along Outer Ring Road -was booked five times (for nearly 168 days) each year, said a DDA official in-charge of the land. This is despite a policy change on temporary allotment of land for religious purpose by DDA in April 2015. Under this, it was decided to slash the booking period from “120 days to 30 days“. DDA also has a policy that registered societies can book “twice a year for a maximum period of 45 days each under freenominal category“.
While seeking permission to allot the site to Sant Nirankari Mandal, DDA had said that it was not made avai lable online as it would cause “difficulties“ to the former in case other organisations or individuals booked the site online. “The ground that if any organisationindividual books the site online (it) will cause difficulties to Sant Nirankari Mandal is not justifiable. This usurps the booking rights of the general public,“ Jung had observed, directing DDA to frame a transparent policy for streamlining the procedure for temporary allotment of land.
Following the LG's direction, DDA reworked its policy in May last year but this site is still not available for online booking. DDA officials don't have a clear explanation. The land disposal department, which is responsible for framing of policy and allotment of land, says it has not received information regarding this site from the engineering division for making it online. “We will soon put the site under the online booking system,“ said an official.
DDA officials told TOI that other organizations too have been given the land but booking is done only if their dates don't clash with Mandal's events. DDA's north zone has been allotting this land to the Mandal since 2009 but the latter claims that they have been holding events here for the past 20 years. Kripa Sagar, media incharge of Sant Nirankari Mandal, said: “We have been doing our samagams here for the past 20 years. There has been no dispute so far. We follow the procedure and all necessary payments have been made to DDA.“
At a time when there is a huge demand for land in the city and Delhi government has been asking for land for its various projects, DDA is not utilizing this large chunk of land for development or for boosting its revenue.According to a DDA spokesperson, “So far, there is no development project planned at this site.“
Flats constructed by DDA
Heavy fine for returning DDA flats
Risha Chitlangia, Pay heavy fine for returning DDA flats , May 22, 2017: The Times of India
May Forfeit Even Full Earnest Money
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has decided to levy a penalty , ranging from 25-100% of the earnest money , to ensure only serious buyers apply for its new housing scheme that is likely to be announced in mid-June.
Officials said the step was being taken to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2014 when 50% of the flats were returned by allottees. However, resident welfare associa tions are not happy with the land-owning agency's decision.
To apply for the housing scheme in which DDA will put up 13,500 flats on sale, people will have to pay Rs 1lakh for LIG and Rs 2 lakh for MIGHIG flats as earnest money . No penalty will be levied on the earnest money if an applicant withdraws before the date of the draw of lots. “But they will have to forfeit 25% of the amount if they surrender the flats within 90 days after the draw of lots,“ said J P Aggarwal, principal commissioner, land disposal and housing, DDA. If a person surrenders within three months of issue of the demand letter, then heshe will lose 50% of the earnest money .“After this, there would be no exemption. If a person fails to pay the money for the flat allotted to himher, the entire earnest money will be forfeited,“ said Aggarwal.
In an attempt to attract serious buyers, DDA had decided to increase the earnest money for MIG and HIG flats to Rs 5 lakh.But it was reduced to Rs 2 lakh following protests by residents.
Resident welfare associations are opposing the penalty clause. Last year, Delhi Residents' Welfare Associations Joint Front, an umbrella body of RWAs under the Bhagidari scheme, had written to then LG Najeeb Jung in this regard. “This is not a valid clause. If a person has a legitimate reason, then why should he be made to pay a penalty?“ said Pankaj Agarwal, general secretary of the organisation.
S B Singh, a member of Lajpat Nagar III RWA, said that DDA doesn't allow people to give floor-wise preference. “If an old couple is allotted a third floor in a building that doesn't have a lift, then why should they be made to pay a penalty when they don't want the flat? DDA only allows people to give preference for the location,“ said Singh.
Explaining the reason behind this move, DDA officials said it is to discourage people who are not serious about buying the flats. “Our flats are much cheaper than market rates. We have given people the option to go and see the location of the projectflats before applying. This is just to ensure serious buyers apply ,“ said a DDA official.
Of the 25,000 flats which were put up for sale in the 2014 housing scheme, 13,000 plus were returned by allottees citing reasons like small size of bedrooms and lack of infrastructure at the location, among others.
2014, ’17 schemes: unoccupied flats
‘5,661 want to give up their DDA flats’, January 5, 2018: The Times of India
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) recieved 5,661 requests for surrender or cancellation of flats alloted to the applicants in housing scheme for 2017, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
“Most of the applicants have not provided any specific reason for surrender but some of the applicants have stated that the built up area of the alloted flats were not up to their requirement,” minister of state (independent charge) for housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a written reply.
DDA had received over 46,000 applications under the 2017 housing scheme for over 12,000 flats. The costs of those flats ranged from nearly Rs 7 lakh to over Rs 1.20 crore, a DDA official had said earlier.
Of the total number of flats, around 10,000 unoccupied ones were from the 2014 housing scheme, while 2,000 others were lying vacant, he added.
Puri said the DDA had intimated that a total of 12,553 flats were surrendered by the allottees or cancelled by the DDA under housing scheme 2014.
To a separate query, Puri said the government has appointed a thirty member council to advice it on all matters concerning the implementation of the real estate Act.
Unified Building Byelaws
Residential colonies
Cell towers permitted, 2016
The Times of India, Jun 11 2016
In a bid to address the menace of frequent call drops, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has amended the Unified Building Byelaws to allow cellphone towers in residential colonies. The changes, coming just over two months after the byelaws were notified, are likely to be opposed by RWAs that have cited concerns over radiation. The decision was taken on Friday after telecom mi nistry officials made a detailed presentation, including on radiation worries, before DDA members. Telecom secretary J S Deepak said new towers would solve the call drop problem in the capital. He added that 100 new sites would be set up in “problematic areas“ to improve services. “We are working with...civic agencies, apart from post office and cantonment authorities, to find a solution on installation of towers,“ he said. We have decided to allow cellphone tow ers in residential areas as the problem of call drops is serious,“ said a senior DDA official. The provision for towers was part of the old building byelaws, officials said. “It was not included in the recently notified building bylaws. We have just added the clause in the new byelaws,“ said an official. At the meeting on Friday, telecom ministry officials are learned to have told DDA members that there was no concrete evidence of any harmful effect of radiation from cellphone towers. “The radiation limits set in India are much lower than those prescribed in many other countries,“ said a senior ministry official.
The Delhi government will notify the amended byelaws for the municipal corporations within 10 days. As per an amendment in the DMC Act in 2011 during trifurcation of the erstwhile MCD, the power to notify such laws was given to the state government.
Sources said permission to erect towers would be given subject to approval from Airports Authority of India (for height), the fire department and Delhi Urban Arts Commission. “It will be considered a structure like any other building. The corporation will have to check the structural stability of the building on which the tower is erected to ensure that the entire structure is safe,“ said a DDA official.
Cellular operators have been finding it difficult to install towers as RWAs had opposed them, raising concerns over the possible harmful effects of radiation. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and other operators have argued that failure to procure sites for installing telecom towers has been a major factor behind poor services. The three municipal corporations in Delhi have not being allocating sites to telecom operators in residential areas either.
