Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena has asked the Delhi Development Authority and NBCC to complete the Capital’s first transit-oriented development (TOD) project at Karkardooma before the deadline, according to a statement by the Raj Niwas on Saturday.
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This development comes after Mr. Saxena’s visit to the project site in east Delhi, during which he took stock of the work’s progress, while directing the agencies to stick to “uncompromising structural safety” and take all prospective steps to fully integrate the upcoming complex with the neighbourhood.
Spread across 25.47 hectares with a minimum green area of 30%, the project took off in September 2021 while it is expected to be completed by September, 2026.
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The TOD is an urban planning concept that involves mixed-use development, which includes residential, business and leisure spaces within walking proximity of each other, along with existing and upcoming public transport infrastructure.
According to Raj Niwas, the project’s residential component comprising EWS housing and high-rise residential apartments, “replete with all civic amenities”, is expected to be completed by the middle of 2023 and 2024, respectively.
While Mr. Saxena appreciated the current progress on the EWS housing towers and excavation work, he said all measures required for the structural safety of the buildings, including sufficiently strong retaining walls, piling, plinth and raft foundation, must be ensured without any compromise on quality.
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Online services
Meanwhile, the L-G has instructed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to make all services that require public interface IT-enabled and online by July 31, according to an official statement on Saturday.
He said services like property tax, advertisement, building plan sanction, layout approval, licenses, conversion and parking charges were being carried out in a piecemeal manner until now, while adding that the services be brought online on commonly accessible platforms by the end of July.
Mr. Saxena said the aim should be to ensure “minimum human interface” in the delivery of the MCD’s services. He added that the move will ensure effective and timely delivery, while it will also cut down on red-tapism, “minimise inconvenience and harassment of people” and curtail inefficiency and corruption at all levels.
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Automation of property tax collection
Touching upon the subject of property tax, the L-G directed officials to ensure full automation of its collection, filing, assessment and recovery. He also advised that all properties within the city limits be brought under the tax net in order to increase the civic body’s revenue and expressed concern over the fact that 65% of property owners did not pay tax.
Terming the gap the in the percentage of taxpayers as unfortunate, Mr. Saxena said that it would only be fair that all individuals pay property tax at differential rates, as per their respective self-assessed financial status.
“For this purpose, he [Mr. Saxena] instructed officials to simplify the forms for property tax registration and ensure its Aadhar linkage,” the official statement read.