East Azad Nagar, a residential area falling under the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), has finally become the first of the 312 colonies in Delhi to be regularised in the first phase of the process. Its layout plan was approved by the Standing Committee of EDMC on Thursday. The lay out plan of New Vishwas Nagar in Shahdara is expected to be approved next week.
The process of regularisation of the 312 colonies started on September 4 last year and 50 of them fall under the jurisdiction of EDMC.
“There was a time when the entire East Delhi was perceived to be illegal. We have to end that perception by gradually regularising the colonies. The regularisation of these colonies would facilitate provision of public facilities, which should be there in all colonies,” said S. S. Yadav, Commissioner EDMC.
Categorically underscoring that no demolition activity would take place, he also emphasised that public utilities would be built only on vacant plots. He was reacting to apprehensions of residents’ welfare associations that once the colonies got regularised the existing buildings would be demolished to build public utilities.
East Azad Nagar is one of the six colonies taken by the EDMC on pilot basis. Their layout plans are expected to be approved in the coming weeks. The other five colonies are Shastri Park Extension (Buland Masjid); Village Gahroli Extension, A-Block Harijan Basti; New Lahori Colony, Shastri Nagar; Pandav Nagar, E & F Block; and New Vishwas Nagar Shahdara.
Once the RWAs would submit their layout plans, the corporation would accept them without any delay, Mr. Yadav added. He also praised the Jamia Millia Islamia, which provided the EDMC and the RWAs the technical assistance for finalising the layout plans.
Incidentally, three institutes – School of Planning and Architecture, I.P. University and Jamia Millia Islamia University – had been entrusted the responsibility of providing technical assistance to the RWAs in finalising the layout plans with the boundary fixed by the Delhi Government. Out of these three institutes, JMI University had been given the work of the colonies falling under EDMC.
The colonies for which the layout plans have been finalised are Pandav Nagar E & F Block and New Vishwas Nagar in Shahdara. Two colonies, Shastri Park Extension (Buland Masjid), Village Gahroli Extension, have been referred to the Delhi Development Authority for carrying out change of land use.
Incidentally, while the Delhi Government order of September 4, 2012 had identified 895 colonies for regularisation out of these 312 falling on private land had been notified regularised from the date of the order and the Delhi Government had finalised the boundaries of these colonies. Of these, 50 colonies are in EDMC and the layout plans of these colonies are being approved after the improved lay out plans within the boundary fixed by the Delhi Government are submitted by the respective RWAs.
