Delhi 48 Villages Urban Status: Rekha Gupta Ends Rural Tag

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced on Friday, 23 October, that the Delhi government will give urban status to 48 of the capital’s 357 villages, including Bijwasan, Jafrabad, Badarpur Khadar and Sultanpur Majra. A senior government officer said that once the change is notified, no village in Delhi will be classified as rural. Gupta said the aim is to bring the villages’ legal status in line with the city around them and to allow planned development, according to Press Trust of India (PTI) reporting.

MCD Approval for Building Plans Likely

For residents, the practical change is who regulates them. Than Singh Yadav, president of the Delhi Panchayat Sangh, said people in these villages would need Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) approval for building plans, and that small commercial units and properties outside the corporation’s tax net could come under it. Yadav also asked the government to reserve land for playgrounds and about two acres of grazing land per village, widen the narrow “phirni” roads, restore village ponds and set aside plots for primary schools and parking.

309 Villages Were Already Urban

Revenue department officials said 309 of Delhi’s 357 villages already have urbanised status. The government’s decision is taken under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. Earlier, on 30 September, the MCD House approved declaring 48 outer-fringe villages urbanised under the same Act, and Deputy Mayor Monika Pant said the move would speed up civic amenities in those areas, according to the Daily Pioneer.

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The Chief Minister’s Office said the villages will be assessed for land use, roads, sewerage, water supply and sanitation, and brought into urban planning under the Draft Master Plan 2041. It added that development will go ahead only under the relevant plans, statutory approvals and rules.

No Notification Date Yet

A village changes from rural to urban only after a notification is issued. None of the reports gives a date for it. Until then, the rules that apply to land and buildings in the 48 villages stay as they are. Related reading: more Delhi and national updates on IPB News.

Source: Based on reporting by Business Standard (PTI) and The Daily Pioneer.

Image: The Pioneer.