'DDA seeks amendments in TOD policy to favour builders lobby'

The AAP government today alleged the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is trying to favour builders lobby by seeking amendments in the recent notification of Ministry of Urban Development on changes in Transit Oriented Development Policy (TOD), which paves way for vertical growth along the Delhi Metro corridor.
Delhi Transport Minister Satyendar Jain has written to Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and sought his interference in the matter alleging that in a recent board meeting, the DDA has proposed to amend the Master Plan to limit the benefits of TOD policy only to the private builders.
Under the TOD policy, a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 400 has been approved and the move will enable high rises to come up in these areas and make for denser colonies, a senior government official explained.

As per the policy, these TOD colonies can come up in the "influence zone" of the Metro, which extends up to 500 meters on both sides of the corridor.
"We have got to know that public, semi-public buildings and transportation amenities would be exempt from the benefit. This has been done to favour private builders, who can construct as many floors but vertical growth of government buildings will not be allowed," Jain told reporters here.
He claimed the proposed amendment is not in the public interest and requested Naidu to consult the city government and DMRC before giving nod to the modification.

In his letter to the Union Minister, Jain said, "This would mean that government entities will not be able to take up any development works under new TOD norms, which would result in gross under utilisation of transportation and other public facility assets owned by the government. Such a lopsided approach on the part of DDA will undermine the basic objective of TOD policy.