Boundaries of unauthorised colonies likely to be marked in three months: DDA

On a day the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to grant ownership rights to people living in unauthorised colonies in the national capital, the Delhi Development Authority on Wednesday said it will soon begin work on marking boundaries of these colonies, which is expected to be completed in three months.

"The mapping will be based on a 2015 satellite imagery and the boundaries will be mapped on to that imagery. In three months, we will complete the marking of the boundaries. We will also launch a portal for people to apply by furnishing relevant details," a senior DDA official told PTI.

In a move that will benefit 40 lakh people, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to grant ownership rights to people living in unauthorised colonies in Delhi, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said Wednesday.

The proposal is based on the recommendations of a committee, he said.

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the Centre would also bring a bill in the Winter Session of Parliament to give relief to the residents of the unauthorised colonies in the national capital.

The senior official of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) said the urban body will soon begin work on the marking of the boundaries of these unauthorised colonies.

The DDA will also put the mapping in public domain and seek suggestions and objections from members of the Resident Welfare Associations and other people.

"After applications, there will be self-assessments and on-spot visits by our officials to do verification. After verification, conveyance deeds will be issued and the property would be then registered," the official said when asked about the process involved in it.

In July, the Delhi government had proposed a set of parameters to regularise the 1,797 colonies which include charging 1 per cent cost of circle rate of land for up to 200 square metre plot from occupants besides a nominal penalty.

The rights will be conferred on payment of nominal charge based on carpet area/plot size. For colonies on government land, the charge will be 0.5 per cent for less than 100 sqm, 1 per cent for 100-250 sqm and 2.5 per cent for greater than 250 sqm , of the circle rate of highest category of locality of the residential area surrounding the unauthorised colony.

The official said that 1,797 number of colonies are with reference to 2015.

"The colonies, which have now become clusters have expanded geographically and we will also factor these expansions while marking the boundaries," he said.

Earlier, the Union minister of Housing and Urban Affairs in a press conference said that the decision "is applicable to 1,797 identified unauthorised colonies" inhabited by people from lower income groups.

The decision does not apply to 69 affluent colonies identified by the DDA, including Sainik Farms, Mahendru Enclave and Anant Ram Dairy, the minister said.