Satellite images to fix boundaries of unauthorised colonies in Delhi

The Centre-appointed committee mandated to recommend the process of giving ownership rights to residents of 1,797 unauthorised colonies is considering using satellite images to fix the boundaries of these colonies. The committee, chaired by Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, has held three meetings to discuss the issue, according to officials aware of the development.

The officials said earmarking boundary is key to the process of giving ownership rights.

“The boundaries have to be fixed as per the cut-off date of January 1, 2015. We can superimpose the satellite image with the current map to fix the boundaries,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity.

The committee has also discussed imposing development charges and land cost (in cases where the colony has come up on government land) on residents. The two have been contentious issues, as a large number of resident welfare associations has refused to pay the charges in 2008, when the then Congress government had initiated the regularisation process.

According to a member of the committee, ownership rights is the not a major problem. But the issue of development charges and land cost has to be settled. “Residents will have to pay development and land changes (wherever applicable). But we are looking at if the amount could be reduced,” said the official.

The committee, which will submit its report in June 2019, said the bigger challenge will be to regularise the colonies. Delhi Development Authority and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) are working on the Master Plan of Delhi-2041. DDA officials said efforts are being made to prepare new development control norms for these colonies since the current rules can’t be applied there.

“We will have to prepare a new set of norms for these colonies. We will also have to look at the structural safety of buildings before we regularise them,” said a senior DDA official.

Shamsher Singh, former chief town planner with the erstwhile MCD, said, “Building plans of a majority of properties can’t be approved as per the present rules. Moreover, there is need to have a re-look at the cut-off date for regularisation. The colonies should be regularised on ‘as is where is’ basis.”

First Published: Apr 16, 2019 07:30 IST