South Delhi residents demand approval for building extra floor

NEW DELHI: Residents of villages and elite colonies in south Delhi came together at the third open house organized by DDA on Tuesday for the ongoing master plan review. Nearly 200 people presented their suggestions for new provisions in MPD 2012 and changes in the existing ones.
While villagers mainly sought DDA to extend the Lal Dora land and rethink on widening of roads near residential areas, RWAs and individuals from GK-1 and Safdarjung wanted permission to build an extra floor to root out commercialization.Lack of parking spaces within colonies was an issue that bothered most no matter where they came from.
A member of residents’ welfare association, Greater Kailash-I, suggested that DDA could consider developing parking lots under existing playgrounds.
They can be built as cooperatives and residents can buy their dedicated parking spaces on the lines of housing societies built by private builders in the NCR, the member said.
Presenting suggestions on 16 different issues, GK-I RWA chairman Rajiv Kakria said, “The expensive fully-automated parking lots should be avoided and instead residents should be encouraged to set up co-operatives.”
He also urged DDA to provide norms in the master plan to bring down the number of guesthouses in residential areas, as they were proving to be a security threat and a hazard on Hansraj Gupta Marg at GK-I.
“There were 28 guesthouses on this two-kilometre stretch. Unable to sustain themselves, these guesthouses were subletting their premises for other services like ATM and fitness centres or have started various activities in the evening.
While parking becomes a problem there, the social environment has also become unhealthy,” Kakria said adding, “Zonal norms should freeze the maximum number of such facilities that can be allowed to operate from a colony.”
As part of other suggestions, he also said norms for equivalent car space (ECS) should be different fro an area like Sangam Vihar and GK-I, as the latter is likely to have bigger cars. Y B Dogra, a resident of Safdarjung Enclave, vouched for allowing an additional floor in plotted houses.
“These properties come at such a premium considering their high costs. Not letting the residents construct an additional floor is unjustified,” he said.
There were a number of residents representing villages in Tughlaqabad, Rajokri, Chhattarpur as well as unauthorized colonies too. Ved Pal from Tughlaqabad Village suggested DDA to change the land use of their area from green to residential.
“The revenue records of the village show that it has been there for centuries. But its land use has been mentioned as regional park in the master plan which hampers the developmental activities in the village as no plan is passed,” Pal alleged.
Another participant, Kishan Chand Panwar, added, “DDA should also provide for a provision for parking in villages. Don’t our families grow? Don’t we need more space for our vehicles? DDA has never given it a thought so far.”