New Delhi, Oct 23 The national capital will no longer have any rural villages as the Delhi government has decided to extend urbanised status to 48 of the total 357 villages in the city.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said the move would lay the foundation for planned development and improve the planning of roads, sewerage and civic amenities in the villages.
According to Revenue department officials, 309 of Delhi’s 357 villages had already been granted urbanised status.
With the remaining 48 set to be urbanised, the national capital will no longer have any village classified as rural, a senior government officer said.
The move aims to align the legal status of these villages with Delhi’s changing urban landscape and provide a basis for better planning of their future development, Gupta said in a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
The villages to be formally urbanised include Bakoli, Auchandi, Mungeshpur, Palla, Sultanpur Majra, Jafrabad, Fatehpur Beri, Ghumanhera, Bijwasan, Dhansa, Issapur, Kair and Mundela Kalan, among others.
The other villages are Hamidpur, Kulakpur, Singhola, Sungarpur Delhi, Sungarpur Shahdara, Tajpur Kalan, Tehri Daulatpur, Rajpur Kalan, Shahpur Garhi, Nizampur Rasidpur, Chatesar, Pur Delhi, Jagatpur Delhi, Pur Shahdara, Sabapur Delhi, Badarpur Khadar, Bakiaabad, Khanpur Khani, Jagatpur Shahdara, Badarpur Majra Burari, Chandan Hola, Badusarai, Deorala, Jainpur, Jhatikara, Kanganheri, Raghopur, Rawta, Shikarpur, Nanak Heri, Bakargarh, Galibpur, Mundela Khurd, Surakhpur and Chak Chilla.
Gupta said the status of the villages would change from rural to urban once a notification was issued, bringing clarity on their urban classification and the legal and administrative rules applicable to them.
The decision, taken under Section 507(a) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, would allow the needs of the villages in terms of land use, road connectivity, sewerage, water supply, sanitation and other civic amenities to be assessed in a more systematic and coordinated manner, she said.
The move would also bring the villages into Delhi’s urban development planning and help assess their future development potential in line with the Draft Master Plan 2041, the CMO said.
However, development work will be undertaken only in accordance with the relevant plans, necessary statutory approvals and applicable rules, it added.
Delhi Panchayat Sangh president Than Singh Yadav said merely granting urbanised status to the villages would not be enough, and urged the government to safeguard land for traditional village needs as urban development progresses.
“Simply declaring the villages urbanised is not enough. The government must ensure that land is reserved for playgrounds and grazing areas, as people in these villages still rear cows and buffaloes. Two acres should be set aside for grazing in every village, along with land for a playground,” Yadav told PTI.
He said the ‘phirni’ roads encircling villages, along with their main roads, should be widened to 100 feet from the existing 20-25 feet in some areas to accommodate future urban development.
Yadav also called for the restoration of village ponds, with facilities for people to walk around them, and said land should be earmarked for primary schools and parking facilities.
He said urbanisation would also bring changes in building regulations, with residents required to obtain approval from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for building plans.
Small commercial establishments and properties that were earlier outside the corporation’s tax jurisdiction could also come under its ambit, he said.
(PTI News)
