North Delhi civic body plans group housing project near Town Hall

NEW DELHI: North Delhi Municipal Corporation will soon finalise the redevelopment scheme for the Walled City special areas. As a model project, a group housing residential redevelopment project on 3,000 sqm has been proposed behind Town Hall near Dangal Maidan.

Officials say that MPD 2021 had provisions for redevelopment of the Walled City and the current proposal was pushed by lieutenant governor after the Anaj Mandi fire.

“The draft for redevelopment scheme has been prepared with the help of a consultant after extensive discussions with elected representatives, residents and other stakeholders. The final project proposal will be placed before the standing committee for clearance on Tuesday,” a north corporation official said.

“MPD 2021 had the provision of a special area redevelopment plan in which the corporation was supposed to start allowing amalgamation of plots to minimum of 3,000 sqm for their redevelopment as a complex to reduce congestion and fire hazard, but the plan could never materialise. It was taken up after the Anaj Mandi fire tragedy. In a recent meeting, the LG asked us to set up a pilot for this project,” the official stated.

The corporation plans to carry out e-auction of land on a 99-year lease basis and the minimum reserve price has been fixed at Rs 22 crore. The time for erection of the new complex has been fixed at 3 years.

“The site is in the heart of central Delhi and connected to SP Mukherjee Marg. The total area of the municipal corporation’s property is around 1,100sqm, which includes the DUSIB office, dhalao and urinal block. The adjoining property of a power discom has an area of 1,776 sqm. To meet the requirement of minimum 3000sqm area, the nearby road and Sushila Mohan Park may also be incorporated into the plan,” the official explained, adding that “the greenery of Sushila Mohan Park will be maintained.”

The civic body plans to incentivise the participation of the power discom by offering higher FAR on the plot. The proposed site area is 3,478 sqm, while the redeveloped property will have a covered floor area of 6,548 sqm, the official said.

The proposed new structure has a multi-storey building with commercial units on ground floor, community facilities on first floor and basement parking, a report prepared by the town planning department states. “The parking facility will be able to accommodate 73 vehicles for commercial and residential units, which will reduce congestion in the area. The redevelopment will create more office space while reducing fire hazard,” the official added.

The town planning department has also prepared a proposal for a model commercial complex at Peeli Kothi. However, that will be put forth for discussion in the standing committee meeting later. “In the commercial complex, Delhi Jal Board will also be a stakeholder,” stated another north corporation official.