With a survey by Central Building Research Institute finding that 70 per cent of buildings on the Yamuna floodplains were structurally unsafe, Delhi LG Tejinder Khanna has asked DDA to form a specific unit to deal with this problem.
Khanna, who is also the Chairman of DDA, said the survey found that 70 per cent of houses on the Yamuna flood plains were ‘unsafe structurally’ and could face damage in the event of a severe earthquake.
‘I have been telling DDA that we want to create a specific body to go in for retrofitting and reconstruction of unsafe housing in East Delhi,’ he said.
Speaking at a workshop organised to review the Master Plan of Delhi 2021, he said private developers could also utilise the opportunity to develop unauthorised colonies.
‘I think redevelopment of all unauthorised colonies is going to be a huge opportunity for developers,’ he said, adding that developers could be given additional FAR for such redevelopment.
Khanna noted that farmhouses in Delhi functioned as ‘lungs of the city’ and said it would be a disaster if high density buildings were to come up there as there would be no water to drink.
He said farmhouses would be regularised by charging a fee and they would be required to maintain a minimum prescribed level of greenery.
ILLEGAL COLONIES IN CAPITAL RESULT OF BAD PLANNING: KAMAL NATH
The fact that hundreds of unauthorised colonies in Delhi had to be regularised through legislation is a ‘tribute to bad planning’, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday.
‘It is not necessarily bad enforcement, it is bad planning. I think, Delhi has had the problem of bad planning and bad enforcement. It is just not bad enforcement. What will you enforce? How can you enforce 1,600 irregular colonies? Tell me who is going to enforce it,’ Nath said at a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) workshop here on Review of the Master Plan of Delhi 2021.
‘Perhaps we are the only country in the world which had to bring in a legislation, the Delhi Special Laws, saying we are going to regularise it. What is this a tribute to? It is a tribute to bad planning,’ he added.
Nath said enforcement agencies alone could not handle problems created by poor planning.
The minister also said there was no scope for lateral expansion in Delhi, and added that the concept of National Capital Region had also put a further load on the capital with people living here, working in NCR and vice-versa.
Market forces have to be considered while planning for urban areas, Nath said.
‘Today, planning has to be driven by market forces. There was an old concept of DDA making a plan, that we’ll have a community centre here and a shopping centre here. Now you can’t say that there will be a shopping centre here if we can’t determine it with market forces,’ he said.
He said high-rises were needed as otherwise slums would keep coming up in the city.
‘Why should we not have high-rises? If we don’t have it we make it a city of slums. Where is the choice?’ he said.
The Minister said everyone wanted large open spaces but the ground realities had to be factored in. ‘Good planning cannot be good poetry,’ he said.
Khanna, who is also the Chairman of DDA, said the survey found that 70 per cent of houses on the Yamuna flood plains were ‘unsafe structurally’ and could face damage in the event of a severe earthquake.
‘I have been telling DDA that we want to create a specific body to go in for retrofitting and reconstruction of unsafe housing in East Delhi,’ he said.
Speaking at a workshop organised to review the Master Plan of Delhi 2021, he said private developers could also utilise the opportunity to develop unauthorised colonies.
‘I think redevelopment of all unauthorised colonies is going to be a huge opportunity for developers,’ he said, adding that developers could be given additional FAR for such redevelopment.
Khanna noted that farmhouses in Delhi functioned as ‘lungs of the city’ and said it would be a disaster if high density buildings were to come up there as there would be no water to drink.
He said farmhouses would be regularised by charging a fee and they would be required to maintain a minimum prescribed level of greenery.
ILLEGAL COLONIES IN CAPITAL RESULT OF BAD PLANNING: KAMAL NATH
The fact that hundreds of unauthorised colonies in Delhi had to be regularised through legislation is a ‘tribute to bad planning’, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday.
‘It is not necessarily bad enforcement, it is bad planning. I think, Delhi has had the problem of bad planning and bad enforcement. It is just not bad enforcement. What will you enforce? How can you enforce 1,600 irregular colonies? Tell me who is going to enforce it,’ Nath said at a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) workshop here on Review of the Master Plan of Delhi 2021.
‘Perhaps we are the only country in the world which had to bring in a legislation, the Delhi Special Laws, saying we are going to regularise it. What is this a tribute to? It is a tribute to bad planning,’ he added.
Nath said enforcement agencies alone could not handle problems created by poor planning.
The minister also said there was no scope for lateral expansion in Delhi, and added that the concept of National Capital Region had also put a further load on the capital with people living here, working in NCR and vice-versa.
Market forces have to be considered while planning for urban areas, Nath said.
‘Today, planning has to be driven by market forces. There was an old concept of DDA making a plan, that we’ll have a community centre here and a shopping centre here. Now you can’t say that there will be a shopping centre here if we can’t determine it with market forces,’ he said.
He said high-rises were needed as otherwise slums would keep coming up in the city.
‘Why should we not have high-rises? If we don’t have it we make it a city of slums. Where is the choice?’ he said.
The Minister said everyone wanted large open spaces but the ground realities had to be factored in. ‘Good planning cannot be good poetry,’ he said.