UNAUTHORISED COLONIES CM says Centre conveyed ‘positive response’ to govt proposal
 

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday that residents of unauthorised colonies in Delhi will soon get ownership of their properties, hinting at a possible resolution of a politically sensitive issue that has dragged on for over a decade.

 The move involves legal approval from the Union government, which the chief minister said was expected “very soon” since the central ministry had conveyed a “positive response” to a proposal sent by his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in 2015.

 “I’m happy to announce that a very positive reply to the proposal was received by us from the Centre on Wednesday. The Centre is ready to regularise the unauthorised colonies. I want to thank the Centre on the behalf of the Delhi people,” the chief minister said at a press conference.

Delhi’s urban development minister Satyendar Jain said that according to the Delhi government’s proposal, 1,797 colonies are to be regularised and the cutoff date — the period till which constructions will be considered legal — for registry of properties will be January 1, 2015.

 Illegal neighbourhoods have mushroomed in the national Capital in tandem with a rise in population. These were agricultural land, government land, or areas not meant to be used as residence according to zooming laws. In 2018, the Delhi Economic Survey estimated at least 5.5 million were living in 1,797 such colonies. In 1962, such settlements were pegged at 110, with 221,000 residents.

Regularising such colonies will give these residents ownership titles and pave the way for installation of essential services such as sewage and water pipeline — many such colonies at present use septic tanks and water tankers instead.

 Union urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri confirmed that his department was working

Centre has conveyed a “positive response” to Delhi govt’s proposal to give ownership rights to residents of Capital’s unauthorised colonies, officials said

“We have asked concerned departments to get ready for a mass registration process. If needed, we will also organise camps for helping people.” Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister.

 Nearly 1,700 colonies are struggling to get basic amenities and have illegal constructions as governments have failed to regularise them

Residents laud move to give ownership, transfer rights over properties.

Residents of unauthorised colonies welcomed chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement that they would soon have ownership rights and transfer rights over properties, though some questioned the “timing”, given that the Delhi assembly elections are likely to be take place by early 2020.

Kejriwal Thursday said residents of unauthorised colonies in Delhi will soon have ownership and transfer rights over properties as Centre has conveyed a “positive response” to the Delhi government’s proposal in this regard. The final nod from the Centre is yet to be received.

Dushyant Kumar, owner of a roadside shoe shop, recalled how he had to run from pillar to post to get a loan of ₹50,000 that he needed to start his business around 10 years ago. “Although I had a house of my own, I could not apply for a loan because I did not have registry documents,” Kumar, a resident of Harsh Vihar, an unauthorised colony, said. Ultimately, he said he had to rely on relatives in his village of Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh and money lenders who charged him a high interest.

Kumar said, “The initiative to give ownership rights over properties in unauthorised colonies will help business— people would be able to take loans by mortgaging their houses.”

 Sareeta Sharma, an anganwadi worker who lives in an unauthorised colony in Jaitpur, was sceptical about the announcement. “Maybe, the AAP is anxious after its poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls and the BJP too must be worried as it had lost the 2015 assembly elections. It looks like a gimmick ahead of the next assembly elections. Why could they (government) not do this two years ago?” Sharma said.

 While the BJP won all seven seats in Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections and the Congress pushed AAP to the third position in terms of vote share, the AAP had won 67 of 70 seats in the 2015 assembly elections.

 “In the last four years, our colony got water, sewer network and better roads. It looks like the ownership rights will lead us all towards a better life,” Gopal Kumar, a resident of Sangam Vihar, Delhi’s biggest unauthorised colony, said.

 Afsar Ali, a resident of Babarpur, was worried about technicalities. “It looks like this announcement is an outcome of the tussle between Centre and AAP. It’s risky to have high hopes. It is also unclear how the government will work out modalities such as circle rates, etc,” Ali said.