Delhi Master Plan 2041: DDA to take 2+ months to notify draft plan

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is likely to take at least two months to notify the city’s master plan for 2041, said senior officials aware of the matter, adding that work is on to sift through over 33,000 comments received from residents and make necessary amendments in the document’s final draft.

The land-owning agency initially planned to notify the new Master Plan of Delhi-2041 before February 7 this year – MPD-2021 was notified on February 7, 2007 — but DDA officials said the public consultation process took time, since it was held online and also extended after requests from stakeholders.

A senior DDA official said the draft will need to be rubber-stamped by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs before it can be notified.

“The process is going on to finalise the plan. The final draft will first be tabled in the DDA meeting and then sent to the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs for approval and later for notification.”

The draft MPD-2041 was put out in public on June 9 last year. DDA had to extend the last date for comments on the draft plan by a month, from July to end-August, after several requests citing the pandemic and consequent restrictions.

“The public hearing also had to be extended and eventually went on till end-November. There are a lot of discussions that have to be held before each chapter is finalised. It will take at least two more months to give it a final shape,” said a senior DDA official.

The 2041 Master Plan for Delhi focuses on the regeneration of old areas (unauthorised colonies, urbanised villages), allowing mixed use development, providing affordable rental housing and small format housing, promoting walkability and non-motorised transport, development of green-blue (green spaces and waterfronts) infrastructure and corridors etc for sustainable development of the city.

This time the land-owning agency has introduced new concepts and proposals to make Delhi a 24×7 city by promoting night-time economy and nightlife; increasing economic activities; allowing mixed development, especially in industrial areas; ensuring planned development of urban extensions etc.

The land-owning agency had to also extend the public hearing, which started in October, by a few days.

The official added, “We have got several suggestions from elected representatives. This includes provision for mixed land use in plotted residential areas, increase in floor area ratio of both residential and commercial buildings, upgradation of physical infrastructure, increase in building heights, relaxation in parking norms, etc. We are examining all the suggestions/objections.”