BackDDA approves ‘land pooling’ policy
Farmers can pool their land and give it to DDA, which will provide infrastructure such as sewage, water supply and electricity
Premium(Hindustan Times)
New Delhi: As farmers agitate over land acquisition in areas of the National Capital Region (NCR) such as Greater Noida and Noida Extension, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Friday said it has formulated a policy that will help resolve such situations.
Farmers can pool their land and give it to DDA, which will then provide infrastructure such as sewage, water supply, electricity and roads. The authority will give the land back to the owners while retaining some of the area to maintain the infrastructure thus developed.
“After this, the land given back to the land owners can be sold by the owners to private builders if they want," said a DDA official who requested anonymity.
Previously, land was acquired from farmers and they were given compensation in the form of land elsewhere or as cash. “But they could never benefit from the development of that land and had no share in the profits," the DDA official said.
The policy will have two categories for land being pooled. The first is for areas between 3ha and 20ha and the second for those above that.
“In the first category, 40% of the land will be given back to the land owners and in the second, 60% will be given back," said the official.
A press release issued by DDA on Friday said, “This policy is a departure from the earlier policy of large scale acquisition and disposal of land adopted in 1961 Master Plan and is in operation till date. The policy, necessitated due to planned acquisition not having kept pace with increasing demands of urbanization, was being deliberated upon from 2003 onwards."
The Master Plan for Delhi 2021, which was notified in 2007, had recommended a provision for the involvement of the private sector in the assembly and development of land and infrastructure services instead of development through a large-scale land acquisition, development and disposal policy, the release added.
“This (new) policy will make sure that the private sector also gets involved in development of new urban extension areas in the cities," the official said.
However, M. Ramachandran, former secretary at the urban development ministry, said that for the policy to work DDA will have to be held accountable and make sure that it delivers on time.
“It does not look very exciting as the track record of DDA is not very pleasing. Only if DDA clearly states how much time it will take for them to develop a particular area and works in a time-bound manner, then there will be hope for this policy to work. They will also have to make it user-friendly," he said.
He added that though this policy has been a part of the Master Plan since 2007, it still took the authority six years to announce it formally. The policy also envisages the creation of 15% incremental housing for economically weaker sections.
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