Last villages set to turn ‘urban’: What will change?, Pg4

Key Highlights:

• The MCD Standing Committee has decided to declare the last 48 villages in Delhi as ‘urban villages’.
• Delhi has 357 villages, mainly in the South, South West, and Outer North districts, as per the Revenue Department.
• After this declaration, the villages will be governed by the DMC Act and DDA Act, not the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954.
• The Gram Sabha land will be transferred to DDA, facilitating the implementation of the Green Development Area (GDA) policy.

Detailed Insights:

• The declaration aims to systematically implement development works and improve civic amenities, but critics are skeptical about its effectiveness.
• The process involves identification by the Delhi government, approval by the DDA, and final sanction by the Centre.
• Declaring villages as urban removes agricultural land-use restrictions under the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954, which prohibited using agricultural land for housing, commercial, and industrial activities.
• Earlier promises of benefits from municipal governance in previously declared urban villages have largely remained unfulfilled, with issues like stalled land mutation processes persisting.
• The Green Development Area (GDA) policy seeks to permit commercial development in the outermost villages of Delhi after the land transfer.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Urban Village: A village within a city that has been formally integrated into the urban administrative structure.
• Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954: Legislation governing land use in Delhi, originally designed to protect agricultural land.
• Green Development Area (GDA) Policy: A policy aimed at permitting commercial development in Delhi's outermost villages.