NEW DELHI: The residents of unauthorised colonies on Wednesday shared their concerns about lack of basic amenities, vulnerability and risks related to calamities such as fire and earthquakes in their colonies with the officials of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
In the run-up to the finalisation of the new Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2014, the agencies have decided to consult city residents and other stakeholders such as traders association, entrepreneurs, professionals, and especially the youth.
Today was the first meeting in the series in which Leenu Sehgal, commissioner (Planning) and Neeraj Bharti, commissioner (Land Pooling) of DDA interacted with the residents of unauthorised colonies. The officers shared details of the PM-UDAY Scheme and application process to be followed by property owners in unauthorised colonies of Delhi.
“The concerns highlighted by the participants were mainly about lack of access to basic services such as water supply, quality of drinking water, waterlogging, sanitation and other facilities in their localities. Other issues raised by them included the legality of their properties, and narrow access roads... A common concern expressed was regarding vulnerability and risks related to disasters such as fire and earthquakes,” said a DDA official.
The official further added that participants expressed their readiness to cooperate with autorities to improve & regularise their colonies.
“They appreciated DDA’s initiative to seek people’s views and understand their issues at the stage of preparation of MPD 2041,” he said. The meeting was held on an online platform in three batches.
Around 120 people and resident welfare associations (RWAs) had registered through emails. The official said that the DDA’s public portal is open for all residents of Delhi to share their views for the future of the city that will become part of a larger vision and strategy for MPD-2041.
Information about the upcoming weekly public consultations will be available on the portal.