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Journalism of Courage
In the battle old as man, the Delhi government has struck yet another blow against nature. In a resolution last week, the government decided to expand the area designated for human habitation on Delhi8217;s outskirts, sacrificing agricultural land in the process. A classic case of red tape cutting through another kind of red line 8212; literally, the Lal Dora, a British term which demarcates the human settlement from the farm land around it.
According to Delhi Development Minister Haroon Yusuf, the step was long overdue. 8216;8216;The Abadi settlement area has remained fixed over the years, though the population has increased. There have been no land reforms in the Lal Dora areas since 1908, when they came into being,8217;8217; he says.
In this remarkable scene of political consensus, there8217;s only one hitch: The present masterplan 2001 does not allow any kind of construction in the agricultural land or green belt.
flashback
Rewind to the early part of the last century. The British introduced the Lal Dora to secure agricultural land and confine Abadi to a specific boundary all around Shahjanabad 8212; the capital 8212; right upto Mehrauli in the south.
According to revenue records, there were 365 urban villages in and around the capital. Their existence was first threatened in 1947, when the government acquired agricultural land around the villages to accommodate the waves of refugees. Nine years later, the takeover got an official stamp when the Delhi Development Authority started acquiring land beyond the Lal Dora 8212; which also served as water catchment areas for the villages 8212; for development projects.
timewarp
Though the DDA doled out compensation for the land they took over, town planners say the villagers lost their traditional occupation, farming. And over half-a-century, they have lived in an anachronistic time and space.
But even as villages like Shahpurjat, Katwaria Sarai, Ber Sarai, Khirki, Masjid Moth, Hauz Khas, Chiragh Dilli hung in suspended animation, 8216;posh8217; South Delhi prospered and developed all around. As land prices in the municipal areas soared, entrepreneurs were quick to spot the possibilities of these villages, which are not covered by municipal by-laws.
The result is visible in any of the Lal Dora villages: five-storey houses which would be illegal in any colony in the Capital, garages, autoworkshops, boutiques and even small-scale industries have proliferated even as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi MCD and the government pleaded helplessness.
Being semi-autonomous units, the villages are not eligible for any MCD amenities. Consequently, they live with narrow, car-impassable lanes, insanitary conditions, no provisions for garbage collection or sewer lines, illegal electricity and water lines the last regularised only on humanitarian grounds. In other words, it8217;s hell.
mainstream
As the villages threatened to spiral out of control, Lt-Governor Vijai Kapoor suggested they be incorporated into the city8217;s 8216;8216;common development fabric8217;8217;. The chief opposition came from the villagers, who said civic by-laws would rob them of their only source of income: renting out space to students, low-income households, shops and boutiques.
The MCD then asked the School of Planning and Architecture to study each urban village, and come up with a comprehensive plan for each. But, says head of Urban Design K T Ravindran, 8216;8216;There can8217;t be a blanket rule for all of them. Each village is entirely different physically, sociologically and historically.8217;8217;
present tense
Which, then, brings us to the present, and the Delhi government8217;s proposal to amend Section 81 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, thereby increasing the phirni radius of the Lal Dora.
But this, too, has its critics. Environmentalist and founder of NGO Shrishti Ravi Aggarwal says that the government policy can only be 8216;8216;fatal8217;8217;. He explains, 8216;8216;The present masterplan ensures that Delhi is surrounded by the buffer zone, a green belt ring around the city, which allows it to breathe. Any violation would be disastrous.8217;8217;
But in Mahipalpur, a Lal Dora village where flashy restaurants and posh showrooms have already made an entry, no one could be bothered. Clearly, the battle between green and grey has entered its decisive phase.
