DDA approves modifications in transit oriented development policy

NEW DELHI: The DDA on Thursday approved modification in the Transit Oriented Policy (TOD) for the city, seeking to unlock the latent economic potential by facilitating compact vertical development around public transport hubs, officials said.

The decision was made during a meeting of the Authority, the highest decision-making body of the Delhi Development Authority chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, also the chairperson of the urban body.

“In order to leverage existing and upcoming public transit infrastructure to integrate land use and transportation in the city, and unlock the latent economic potential by facilitating compact vertical development around public transit nodes, the Authority has given final approval for the modification to notified Transit Oriented Policy (TOD) in Delhi,” the DDA said in a statement.

In the Authority meeting held on December 23, 2020, a preliminary approval for the revised TOD policy was given and after that a public notice was issued for inviting objections and suggestions.

“All the objections and suggestions received were placed before the Board of Enquiry and Hearing. The modified TOD policy shall be forwarded to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for its approval and final notification,” it said.

The Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Policy for Delhi was notified by the Centre on December 24, 2020 as part of the Master Plan of Delhi 2021.

Thereafter, the DDA in consultation with major mass rapid transit agencies like the Indian Railways, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS), and real estate developers of National Capital Region, had proposed modifications in the existing TOD policy to make it more pragmatic in the larger public interest, officials said.

“The revised policy can potentially improve public transit ridership, reduce vehicular congestion, and reduce greenhouse emissions and pollution in the long term,” the DDA said.

Apart from the metro and railway stations, the revised policy will also enable node-based transit-oriented development around upcoming modes of public transit like BRTS/LRT/Metro Lite/Metro-Neo, thus making TOD policy of Delhi future-ready, it said.

“The revised TOD policy will allow mass public transit agencies to utilise their operational area like tracks, stations, depots for development, facilitating the use of more effective and sustainable operation and maintenance models for the transit agencies,” the statement said.

As another major impetus to enable development of well-integrated multi-modal transit hubs, the revised TOD policy has identified Anand Vihar, Sarai Kale Khan and Kashmere Gate as key locations to be jointly developed as Multi Modal Hubs, ensuring seamless integration between various transport services, providing concourse level integration under one single roof, wherever feasible, it said.

In the first phase, 12 transit nodes have been identified for the project — Kashmere Gate Multi-modal Transit Hub; Nizamuddin/Sarai Kale Khan Multi-modal Transit Hub; Anand Vihar Multi-modal Transit Hub; New Delhi Railway station; Dwarka Sector-21 metro station; Dwarka Sector-8 to Sector-14 metro stations corridor.

Jangpura RRTS station; Haiderpur Badli Mor metro station (Mukarba Chowk); Rohini Sector-18 metro station; Mukundpur metro station; Karkardooma pink and blue line metro stations taken together, and Trilokpuri metro station, the statement said.

The compact development under TOD policy ensures ample provision of open and green spaces, up to 30 per cent of the total area, with at least 20 per cent as public green space, promoting walkable precincts in the TOD nodes, the DDA said.

“Additional development control norms regarding active frontage, parking, and other building controls have been added for creating more vibrant public spaces that not only promotes walking, non-motorised transport and public transport as efficient modes of transport but also ensures sustainability provisions as an underlying feature of all the proposed development under TOD,” it said.