Urban Development minister Kamal Nath and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today seemed to be on the same page on the issue of allowing high rises in the national capital.
The Union Minister said they should be built only where possible like in new areas and the Chief Minister agreed but insisted the green and open places of Delhi must be maintained.
After chairing a meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB), Nath addressed reporters in the presence of Dikshit, Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Delhi LG Tejendra Khanna.
The Urban Development minister was asked by a reporter about his views on vertical growth in Delhi.
"My opinion is clear, I have said. Where we are sitting today, there can be no high rise here. But where there is new development, Delhi cannot expand, it has Haryana one side and Uttar Pradesh on another. So the increasing population and the 40 lakh people who live in slums and unauthorised colonies. What is the solution? The land is expensive. So where, it is possible, there should be high rises, in the new areas."
He said that he does not suggest having such constructions in the old areas, where they cannot take burden of high rise buildings.
Nath added that the limited land in Delhi was also the reason that Delhi's connectivity to neighbouring towns should be increased.
Later, when Dikshit was asked about the views expressed by the Urban Development minister, she replied, "What he has said is correct. Our purpose is also that whatever happens, the present picture of Delhi, which is green and has open spaces, has to be maintained."
In the past, Nath has said that the only way forward for Delhi was vertical, while Dikshit has opposed the construction of high-rise buildings.
