Colonies: 3 civic bodies pulled up for not finalising plans

In a meeting, Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely asked commissioners of three civic bodies -- North Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi Municipalities -- to start the process immediately.

Finalisation of layout plans for the colonies is important for facilitating infrastructure like school and hospital.

Referring to reports that the civic bodies have not started the process to finalise the layout plans due to financial constraints, Lovely said none of these municipal bodies has submitted any comprehensive proposal seeking funds for the purpose. He said government will provide money if the corporations request for it.

Referring to a directive of the Urban Development Ministry, Lovely said the corporations are bound to prepare layout plans for the regularised colonies within one month.

He said the municipal corporations can collect house tax from residents of the recently regularised colonies once the layout plans are finalised.

The Minister said the the civic bodies should not "politicise" the issue of carrying out development works in the colonies.

"Government will take adequate steps to ensure that building plans are also sanctioned by competent corporation authorities so that people do not face any difficulties," Lovely said.

Out of 895 colonies which were regularised last month, 312 settlements are on private land while 583 colonies came up on government land. The government is also in the process of allowing sale and purchase of properties in the colonies on private land.

Allowing sale and purchase will bring relief to lakhs of residents as government had restricted sale and purchase in the settlements after issuance of provisional regularisation certificates in 2008.

Delhi government had issued provisional regularisation certificates to over 1,639 unauthorised colonies ahead of Assembly polls in 2008. The then Dikshit government, while distributing the certificates, had promised to regularise the colonies if Congress came to power for the third term.