Parliament on Tuesday passed a Bill extending protection from punitive action against unauthorised developments in Delhi for three years beyond December 31.
Earlier in the day, The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Act, 2023 was passed by a voice vote in Lok Sabha after a brief discussion in which three members participated.
In the Upper House, eight members participated in the discussions on the Bill and it was passed by a voice vote.
The Lok Sabha passed the bill to extend protection against punitive action to unauthorised developments in Delhi for three years beyond the December 31 deadline with the BJP MPs accusing the AAP dispensation in the national capital and the previous Congress-led UPA government at the Centre of not doing enough.
The Bill was passed by a voice vote after a brief discussion in which three members participated. The Bill seeks to provide protection to certain forms of unauthorised developments in Delhi from punitive action where adequate measures are yet to be taken.
The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Act, 2023, extends the protection given to unauthorised buildings till 2026.Participating in a discussion on the Bill, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, "Over a period of time because there has been a large influx from rural and semi-rural areas into Delhi... There has been a large amount of unauthorised building construction and encroachments resulting in a situation that by 2006, on account of Directives from the apex court and Delhi High Court, a process of sealing and demolitions commenced".
"Then the government in 2016 deemed it fit to bring a law which would provide protection against sealing and demolition. Between 2006 and 2011, these laws were passed on an annual basis...There were attempts made by previous governments to deal with these issues but the problem largely remained unaddressed.
"When we approached the Delhi government (AAP), we were told by the Delhi govt that the issue is being addressed and we believed them. In 2019 we got to know that the surveys they were supposed to conduct would take two more years... It was then that our government introduced the PM-UDAY scheme in October 2019 but almost immediately we had to face the pandemic and work was impacted," he said.
South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri alleged that both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have misled the people on the issue.
"Provisional certificates were issued to people when Sonia Gandhi made a pre-poll promise to regularise the unauthorised colonies, however, nothing happened. They just made tall claims. Then in 2018, the Kejriwal government passed a false proposal that they are regularising the unauthorised colonies but nothing has happened till date," he said.
Parvesh Verma, West Delhi MP, called for the inclusion of the Green Land Area (GDA) and land pooling policy in the 2041 master plan.
Responding to the members, Puri said, "Out of the 2-2.5 crore people, 40 lakh benefited by authorisation of unauthorised colonies but still some sections not covered in the initial list but more will be benefited."
"Land-pooling will benefit more than 70 lakh people. Delhi is not only a city growing in population but also in economic strength and a lot of rebuilding is taking place. This Bill seeks extension for three years which will give us time and cushion for carrying out wide-ranging consultation for orderly development of unauthorised colonies," he added.
