Master Plan of Delhi 2041: Greener environment, 24-hour city, vibrant economy! Check the proposal

The draft Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2041 has been made available on Delhi Development Authority's official website.

Master Plan of Delhi 2041: The national capital is all set to undergo a massive renovation! A vibrant economy, greener environment, rejuvenation of the city’s heritage areas, enhance mobility promoting cleaner fuels are among the key areas encompassed in the draft Master Plan of Delhi 2041. The draft Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2041 has been made available on Delhi Development Authority’s official website and public suggestions, objections have been invited, according to a senior DDA official quoted in a PTI report. As per the draft plan, the main focus areas are water, environment, critical resources, housing, mobility, built environment and public places, vulnerability, economic potential, heritage assets and monitoring and evaluation.

The draft plan, in the area of environment, envisions to minimize vehicular pollution through key strategies, including migration to greener fuels for public transport, adoption of mix-use transit-oriented development (also known as TOD), and improvement of water quality, which is to be taken for the Yamuna river as well as various lakes, natural drains and baolis. It also highlights Delhi’s topographical vulnerability as the national capital falls in seismic zone four and is at high risk of flooding, earthquake and incidents of fire outbreaks. The draft plan also incorporates Delhi’s heritage assets. It said that the city is a cultural capital and has several heritage assets. According to the draft, assets’ preservation and their adaptive reuse are to be promoted for preventing degradation as well as loss of historic assets and fabric.

The draft Master Plan of Delhi 2041 also includes fostering night-time economy as part of the ’24-hour city’ plan, revitalizing Delhi’s commercial core including Connaught Place, as well as shifting wholesale activities from the walled city. To attract tourists and locals, it calls for identifying nodes and circuits in Delhi for continuing work, cultural activity as well as entertainment at night. The draft plan proposes that the move will improve economic yield by extending the utilization of work spaces, as well as safety in the city by promoting a vibrant night life.

The draft plan has also laid special emphasis on the development of green belt as well as on increasing the interaction of people with the city’s “green and blue assets”. While the Yamuna river flows from the city’s northern part through east and southeast into the state of Uttar Pradesh, by the time it exits, it can barely be called a river with hardly any fresh water flowing in it. A clear boundary of the buffer zone near the Yamuna river has been laid by the draft and how to develop it. As per the plan, green buffer of 300 metre width shall be maintained wherever feasible along the entire edge of the river. Also, for 25-30 metre from the river edge, wild grassing or other suitable ground-cover vegetation shall be planted and beyond this grass belt, trees may be planted, it said.

Other than cleaning the river and reviving dying water bodies, DDA is also looking to create green mobility corridors for utilization as pedestrian walkways, as well as cycle tracks along with stormwater, drains in the city. Also, according to proposals in the draft Master Plan for Delhi 2041, the demand for potable water for domestic utilization needs to be rationalized and progressively reduced to 50 GPCD (gallons per capita daily) from 60 GPCD in order to make Delhi water secure.