DDA considering solar panels, underground cabling in group housing colonies

new delhi: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Wednesday said that plans for solar panel installation, underground cabling of electricity wires, and setting up of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) Infrastructure in group housing colonies may be considered in the Master Plan of Delhi 2041, after Residents' Welfare Associations and many other residents brought up the issue at an open meeting session where inputs for the next MPD were discussed.

The meeting was chaired by Leenu Sahgal, Commissioner (Planning), and HK Bharti, Additional Commissioner Planning from DDA.

The DDA and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), held an online consultation with 70 residents and RWAs of Group Housing Colonies today, seeking suggestions for the MPD-2041.

Participants shared their suggestions to improve the built environment, civic facilities and other planning concerns, such as redevelopment, open spaces, water supply, solid waste management and parking. The main concerns shared by participants were issues related to shared facilities and spaces. Access, maintenance and security of shared and common spaces such as terraces, ground floor frontage, parks, common toilets and security facilities were also discussed. RWAs also said that while some colonies had adopted good solid waste management practices, others still had the issue of collection and segregation of waste.

Augmentation of existing infrastructure, ensuring fire safety and provision of lifts were other concerns of improvement related to redevelopment and upgradation. Some participants suggested creating a specific redevelopment policy for group housing colonies with planned densification, upgradation of infrastructure and the need for a robust implementation framework for Master Plan 2041.