Last villages set to turn ‘urban’: What will change?
According to the MCD, this will lead to systematic implementation of development works and improve delivery of civic amenities.
Another major issue in urban villages in the stalled process of land mutation - changing the ownership title in land documents. This process has been at a standstill. This has caused problems for villagers and should be resolved by the government, says Bazad.
The MCD Standing Committee has decided to declare the last remaining 48 villages in Delhi as ‘urban villages’.
According to the MCD, this will lead to systematic implementation of development works and improve delivery of civic amenities.
Critics feel this is easier said than done.
How many villages are there in Delhi?
The Delhi government’s Revenue Department records 357 villages in the city.
They are concentrated in the South, South West, and Outer North districts.
While most have acquired urban characteristics over the decades, they remain islands of unplanned growth.
“They have similar issues to unauthorised colonies… Many of the urban villages are also of heritage importance,” says the Delhi Master Plan 2041.
How are villages declared ‘urban’?
The Delhi government identifies the village, after which the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) approves a proposal to declare it ‘urban’. The proposal moves through the MCD Standing Committee and House, and is finally sanctioned by the Centre.
“Details of the identification process aren’t disclosed,” Paras Tyagi, who has studied these villages and runs the nonprofit Centre for Youth Culture Law and Environment (CYCLE), said.
Tyagi pointed out that while Bijwasan remains a rural village, Rajokri next door was declared urban in 2019.
Batches of villages were declared urban from the 1960s to 1994, Tyagi said. Thereafter, 174 villages got the urban tag in 2018 and 2019.
Once the ongoing process is complete, these 48 villages will be the last batch of villages to be declared urban in Delhi.
What changes after a village becomes urban?
First, the villages are no longer governed by the agricultural land-use norms of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954 (DLR Act) which prohibits landowners from using agricultural land for housing, commercial and industrial activity. Rural groups have long demanded changes in the Act, arguing that farming is not viable.
Second, the village comes under the purview of the DMC Act and DDA Act.
Gram Sabha land is transferred to DDA.
This is also the first step towards implementing the Green Development Area (GDA) policy, which seeks to permit commercial development in the outermost villages of Delhi, said Bhupender Bazad, leader of the Dilli Dehat Vikas Manch.
What has happened in villages declared urban before?
The promise that rural areas will benefit from municipal governance has largely remained on paper, experts and rural groups complained.
“Nothing really changes. The situation has remained the same on the ground,” Surender Solanki, head of Palam 360, a group that claims to have the support of “all 360 villages and 36 biradaris (communities)” of Delhi, said.
Tyagi said villages that were declared urban in 2018 and 2019 have not got any of the promised benefits so far.
Another major issue in urban villages in the stalled process of land mutation – changing the ownership title in land documents. This process has been at a standstill. This has caused problems for villagers and should be resolved by the government, says Bazad.
Full report on https://indianexpress.com
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