Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri, on January 31, 2018, said that his ministry has proposed certain amendments to Delhi’s Master Plan 2021, which would be taken up by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in its meeting on February 2, 2018. “We are actually going to address the Master Plan. It will need amendment and we are in the process of amending the Master Plan, with a view to resolving the issues,” Puri said.
The ministry has proposed providing a uniform Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in shop-cum-residential plots, complexes operating in commercial streets, residential areas, commercial and local shopping centres, he said. FAR is the ratio of a building’s total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. Puri said by how much the FAR would be raised, depends on the Authority which will ‘work it out’ depending on the size of the plots.
The ministry has also proposed allowing commercial activities in the basement at all commercial streets, subject to payment of requisite charges, he said.
Besides proposing reduction in penalty charges, the ministry was also preparing a separate policy for godown clusters in non-conforming areas. “These proposal require amendment in the Master Plan, for which the agenda has to approved by the Authority in its next meeting, on February 2, 2018,” Puri said, adding then, people’s suggestions and objections on it would be sought.
He said the ministry has also decided to reduce the number of days, for which the notification has to be put in the public domain, from 45 days to three, considering the urgency of the situation.
Municipal corporations in Delhi have undertaken the sealing drive initiated by a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee. Commercial premises have been sealed, for failing to deposit conversion charges according to provisions in Master Plan 2021.
