NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will engage the Survey of India (SoI) to map unauthorised colonies in the city for which a Cabinet approval is awaited.
Officials of the Delhi government and the DDA said on the basis of GIS images from the survey, boundaries are likely to be fixed as per the cut-off date for regularization decided by the government.
“Initial exercise has begun. Patwaris have been asked to check areas under their limits. The SoI has prepared a schedule also, but work will start following the formal approval of the Cabinet note,” said a Delhi government official.
A senior DDA official confirmed that formal exercise for mapping colonies would begin after the Cabinet approval.
The mapping of unauthorised colonies is a contentious issue, which has been pending for years for which the government had made several unsuccessful attempts, including the latest by using drones. There are about 1,797 unauthorised colonies, including those on the government land, in Delhi.
“The Centre sent a note to the Delhi government on the issue, after which CM Arvind Kejriwal did a press conference announcing the regularisation of colonies. All departments were asked to send their comments on the note, which have already been given. The comments will be forwarded to the urban development ministry through the DDA,” said the official.
In February, Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain cleared a proposal to use drones for mapping boundaries of the unauthorised colonies. The decision was taken by the AAP government after four previous attempts in as many years failed to produce any result.
In April 2015, the government engaged two agencies to undertake the survey of 893 unauthorised colonies. The project was supposed to be finished within two years. However, only 372 colonies could be covered and the survey remained incomplete. Some discrepancies were also observed in
the work.
“After the previous surveys failed, the decision to use drone was approved. In fact, the revenue department had got a drone survey done of an unathorised colony. It required more time to capture the data from the field, its processing, and verify the accuracy. It was expected that the whole exercise will take about two years for completing task. However, the Centre has decided to take up the job,” said the Delhi government official.