Delhi MCD elections: Hardeep Singh Puri outlines BJP master plan for resolving housing issues

NEW DELHI: To woo the urban voters ahead of the high-stake municipal polls in the capital, Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said the Centre had incorporated the provision of regeneration and redevelopment of old houses and group housing societies in Delhi Master Plan of 2041 and proposed to increase the floor area ratio.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters along with the party MPs from Delhi, Puri said once the new master plan was implemented, residents would be able to make additional construction and add dwelling units and toilets to cater to bigger families, while the housing societies could have improved layouts and bigger parking lots.

"The government is not only working to rehabilitate slum dwellers but also taking measures to redevelop group housing societies, provide better housing to the middle class through various schemes of DDA and to our farmer brothers residing in rural parts of the capital," said Puri.

The housing minister claimed that Delhi Master Plan 2041, in the final stage now, was going to be a visionary document to usher in a new era of development. "In 2021, the floor area ratio was enhanced to 200. The regeneration of FAR (after demolishing and rebuilding) is envisaged in the master plan 2041 at a fixed rate ranging from 260 to 340, depending on the plot size," Puri said.

For the poor, he said, the Centre has started working on the redevelopment of 210 JJ clusters to fulfil its promise of providing modern houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban). Delhi Development Authority has completed physical surveys of these slums and collected application forms from the residents in the digital mode to provide them housing in multistoreyed apartment complexes with modern facilities, he added. The survey of 166 more slums will start immediately after the conclusion of the municipal polls and will be completed by March 2023, the minister said.

BJP has made in situ development of slum clusters and rehabilitation of its residents a major poll plank and has been showcasing the recent allotment of 3,024 flats in Kalkaji to the residents of the neighbouring Bhumiheen camp as its major achievement. Party workers have taken slum dwellers from various clusters across the city on a visit to these flats in the past few weeks.

Singh said Delhi currently has 675 slum clusters, of which 376 with 1.7 lakh households have come up on the land belonging to DDA and other central government agencies. He, however, alleged that the Delhi government had yet to start the redevelopment work on 299 clusters falling under the jurisdiction of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board.

"DDA has embarked upon a mission to fulfil the housing aspirations of Delhi residents. The Modi government has already constructed 3,024 flats in Kalkaji where the possession of EWS units is under way," Puri said. "In the next few months, we are going to complete the Jailorwala Bagh project to rehabilitate 1,675 JJ dwellers and another in Kathputli Colony."

On the land pooling policy, the minister said 7,087 applications had been received from land-owners expressing willingness to participate in the scheme and around 7,400 hectares had been pooled. To resolve teething problems such as mutation of land, stamp duty and contiguity of 70% pooled land, the government has proposed amendments in DD Act 1957, which will be placed before Parliament soon, Puri assured.