Nine years since the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) ambitious land pooling policy was first notified, the development works in areas notified under the policy are yet to take shape.
While land pooling involves the acquisition of land by the authorities which is followed by roping in developers to execute the projects, DDA’s policy – which was notified twice, in 2013 and 2018 – allows the agency to steer away from the complex process of land acquisition.
Facilitator, regulator
Instead, the DDA plays the role of a facilitator and regulator between the landowners who are invited to pool their land parcels and the developers who come onboard to execute the envisioned projects.
Currently, a total of 104 villages – that have been divided in six zones and further divided into sectors – have been identified for land pooling. According to a senior DDA official, the villages are located beyond the agency’s projects in Rohini, Dwarka and Narela – falling in the north, north-west and south-west districts.
According to the policy, 60% of the land will be utilised by the owners or developer entity for the purpose of developing residential and commercial facilities. However, 40% of the land will be surrendered to service providing agencies, such as the DDA, for infrastructural developments – road networks, sewerage systems and parks.
Land usage
Primarily, the policy is aimed at providing 17 lakh dwelling units for a population of roughly 80 lakh people, which include five lakh units for economically weaker sections (EWS) – as a solution to address the growing urbanisation and the issue of housing.
Speaking to The Hindu , a senior DDA official said, out of 104 villages that have been identified for land pooling, the agency has identified 16 high priority sectors – falling under zones L, N and P-II. He added, “Development works on at least two sectors will start this year.”
In February 2019, the agency opened its portal for land pooling and a total of 7,262 hectares — falling under zones J, K-I, L, N, P-I and P-II — area was registered till January 24, 2022.
“This year, the high priority sectors will mostly see the commencement of development work with respect to the housing units. We have had meetings with the land owners who are coordinating with the developers. However, we are waiting for the eligibility criteria to be fulfilled. For that, we need at least 70% of the pooled land to be contiguous. These sectors are of priority because they are very close to fulfilling the eligibility criteria,” the official said.
The official emphasised that the agency will issue a notice to form a consortium of land owners after the eligibility criteria is fulfilled.
He added, “The consortium will have to prepare a draft implementation plan, which will specify the distribution of land among the stakeholders and submit it to the DDA. We will approve it and issue the required licenses accordingly. Out of the total land, 16% will be used for recreation of green areas, while 12% will be used for roads.”
With the DDA further extending the deadline for applications to February 28, the official said the development works on the remaining sectors will take shape “depending on the participation of land owners”.
While the priority sectors in villages under zone N have seen a robust participation with a total area of 3,452 hectares being registered, a thin level of participation was observed in villages falling under zones P-1 and J with only 55.1 and 16.2 hectares of area being registered till January 24.
From November 10, 2021, to January 24, 2022, only 331.9 hectares of area was registered from 271 applications.
“The scheme is voluntary and for development work to begin, we need the sectors to meet the eligibility criteria. The sectors which are of high priority are moving faster in terms of the participation of land owners. We cannot give a timeline on when the development work will begin in the other sectors because they are yet to meet the eligibility criteria. It solely depends on the people,” the official said. He added that the agency is facing hurdles in convincing landowners to participate.
