Changing model of Regularization: A Case of Delhi
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Changing model of Regularization A Case of Delhi
By: Prof. Mohammad Ziauddin, HOD Architecture, JMI th
Feroz A. Faruqi, M. Ekistics 4 Semester, JMI
ABSTRACT “Unauthorized colonies in Delhi pose a serious human problem as a huge population is living in these colonies. The issue of existing unauthorized colonies has engaged attention since the mid-seventies when a policy for regularization was formulated…The present method of regularization of unauthorized colonies is by the provision of basic infrastructure to improve the environment. However, regularization has not really brought in any tangible improvement. Effectively, the process has only led to tenure rights on the 1
land and access to services” (MPD-2021).
In the background of diverse challenges, Master plan 2021 has accepted the fact that regularization process has not been able to improve the lifestyle and environment of the people concerned. Limited by many social, economic and political constraints, Authorities have met little success in providing humane living conditions for its people. The „regularization process and attempts‟ till now has met little success in integrating the people in the mainstream of urban development and present a pressing need to re-define regularization. With recent regularization drive government eyes to get, with the help of consultants, layout maps and plans to obtain the status of land and plot details-sizes, ownership, morphology-and henceforth provide basic amenities and services as per differential standards as per the „Revised Guidelines‟ approved by the Government. This will allow conducive exchanges on both sides- Revenues from residents in form of taxes and development charges in return to basic infrastructural facilities from the authorities. This paper tries to establish an outlook of the interests-national and social- applied and impliedthat the process of regularization offers. It analyses several viewpoints-for and against-to understand the
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MPD, 2021
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Changing model of Regularization: A Case of Delhi
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value and intent of regularization and how it has changed its approach and meaning in the long run of trail. Meanwhile it also underlines the newly adopted bottom-up approach for regularization that focuses on to achieve social objectives that was earlier abstracted away.
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BACKGROUND Master Plan for Delhi 2021 (MPD-2021) has recognized this problem in following words – “Unauthorized colonies in Delhi pose a serious human problem as a huge population is living in these colonies. The issue of existing unauthorized colonies has engaged attention since the mid-seventies when a policy for regularization was formulated. 567 out of 607 listed unauthorized colonies were regularized till October 1993, but many more unauthorized colonies have come up since then. Such colonies are to be identified by the Govt. of NCTD...
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Delhi is marred by the problem of unauthorized colonies over several years. Over 70% of the area of NCTD is occupied by unauthorized colonies, villages and slums. Infrastructure (social and physical) is too much stretched up to serve the rising population. Patches of these colonies disrupt the urban pattern of the city by introducing incongruous sectors of large population density. At the same time, it thwarts the planning process by lending complicated, fluctuating and often incomputable demographics for the planners to figure out.
To name few general catalysts which promote irregular developments, one can easily start with high migration leading to more demand & low supply; Affordability; proximity to workplace and infrastructural facilities that city provides; ghettoization; social seclusion etc... If we look at the nuances we will infer that large land zones without adequate supporting housing, inept transport facilities for economically weaker sections give rise to such „make shift‟ places which eventually convert into expansive and dense colonies. “Despite its initial stated good intention to integrate people with low incomes into the urban fabric [DDA 1957, 1962], the public policy of urban planning and housing implemented by the Delhi Development Authorities (DDA) failed to meet the demand of the poorest section of the population. Thus, the latter resorted to informal habitat, and had no option but to occupy vacant lands, essentially public land, where they self-constructed makeshift housing – or JJs.” (Véronique Dupont, 2008)
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For low-income housing, the DDA was to develop 27,487 hectares of land in the 20-year period of the first master plan. Of this, only 15,540 were acquired. Similarly, in 1962, the total existing urban residential land was 4,694 hectares. The plan proposed to add another 14,479 hectares by 1981. But the land actually developed was only 7,316 hectares. Roughly half the projected residential land was not developed. (Gautam Bhan, 2006)
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MPD, 2021 Dupont, Véronique, „Slum Demolitions in Delhi since the 1990s : An Appraisal‟, Economic and Political Weekly, July 12, 2008 4 Bhan, Gautam, „Capital‟s Sealing Drive: Whose Delhi Is It Anyway?‟, Tehelka, October 7, 2006 3
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Unauthorized colonies as the name suggest are an infringement of law thus illegal and come up initially as a make-shift colony for economically weaker aspirants, refugees and immigrants who come to cities for new and paying prospects. “It is a contiguous area where no permission of concerned agency has been obtained for approval of Layout Plan and/or Building Plan” (Gazette of India, Part II, Section 3). These settlements are generally spawned by the help of land mafia or a political group and later proliferate under the aegis of citizen‟s rights. Their conditions, with accruing densities, deteriorate over time and require government intervention and support to ameliorate the situation. Due to the lack of inclusive policies and no heed to the concepts of integration, the government lags to carry out a holistic solution to this endless down-cycle of upgradation towards deterioration.
Unauthorized colonies are the product of ineffective urban planning and policy making (Gautam Bhan, 2012). As an onus, city legislation look forward to integrate such settlements into the city fabric by a popular instrument called regularization. Regularization process has been framed as a corrective measure, which needed revision, applied as a broad brush consisting of a set of criterion and procedures for compliance. Thought it uphold the mandate of the provision of physical infrastructure, it do not emphasize on social infrastructure and community development. This leads to an unconducive state of incomplete development; it renders official recognition without rehabilitation (physical and mental).
REGULARIZATION-A POLEMIC On one hand, advocates decry the government for promoting interests of such unauthorized settlements and declare them illegal; while on the other some profess its legitimacy pivoting it to citizen‟s rights and demand regularization. This has led government into a quagmire situation where it has now begun to feed on the situation to gain a political corner. In an article, Gautam Bhan explains “Today, it is uncontested that the DDA neither built enough housing (to legally buy, be allotted or rent) nor did it notify enough development area in the plan to allow (rich or poor) privately built housing to be legal…The poor have done the DDA's job for it. All the government has to do is to do exactly what it has done for unauthorized colonies: recognize that settlements already exist and allow them security of tenure.”
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In opposition to regularization drive in Haryana, Justice R K Garg had passed an order stating: “The question arises whether a law breaker can be allowed to take benefit by getting his illegal construction regularized under the garb of a (government) policy and whether such a policy can be sustained.”
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Bhan, Gautam, „It‟s their World too‟, Hindustan Times, September 16, 2012 Ohri, Raghav, „HC slams Hooda govt for „justifying‟ regularisation of illegal colonies‟, Indian Express, August 01, 2012
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Political imbroglio Among many questions barged at the government, one needs a special mentioning. Notification, 2007 acknowledges regularization of colonies/plots built up till 2007 for regularization and declares any construction after that as illegal. It has also met several debates and refutations. While government has put pressure on Resident Welfare Association (RWA) to procure land for it to provide infrastructure installations, RWAs hesitates and want the colony to be regularized „as it is‟ without necessary provisions. Even road widening for fire or land norms for high tension line surrounding are not accepted as it may leed to a large number of plots affected. Furthermore, id the Notification, 2007 is ruled out as devised, it may lead to land grabbing by land mafias and spurt in building activities with huge involved property speculation.
For the Motion Regularization in social Interest
Unauthorized dwellers are buyers of land and pay taxes for the services and infrastructure they avail on a daily basis. Regularization process stems out from the socialist nature of the government to compensate for not matching the pace of urbanization process and its inability to house city‟s population who are its major stakeholders and dedicated to building the state economy. As Nidhi Batra in her article -Slums – a 7
phenomenon or aftermath of Urbanisation? -discusses that the problem of urban poverty is an international phenomenon that is synonymous to city its urbanization process. Regularization brings economic resilience and physical integration of irregular city areas, though in the past it has overlooked the social needs of the concerned population. The inhabitants remain in distress state and that is when Regularization process fails to meet its fundamental objectives of physical and mental well-being of the citizens by their integration in the mainstream of urban development. Catering to the desperate social needs and mending their exploitative lifestyles will bring harmony in the society at large. Here we must ask ourselves this question: Is regularization drive in Delhi fulfilling these socialist objectives?
Regularization in national (Capital) Interest National Housing Policy also brings out the study that that housing is directly proportional to Nation‟s progress and should be promoted as a strategy for augmenting employment and production. Regularization will touch upon approximately 50 lakh population that contributes hugely to the city‟s
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Batra, Nidhi, „Slums – a phenomenon or aftermath of Urbanisation?‟ http://terraurban.wordpress.com February 6, 2013
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economy. Legalizing their status will accrue huge government revenues in form of Taxes, Regulation of 8
informal economy and Information Levinson, Amanda 2005) .
Taxes: Huge tax revenues from property registration, infrastructure and services, commercial and industrial sectors can be garnered. Recently the East Delhi municipality has proposed to increase the property tax by 9
effectively 60% . It contends that large infrastructure works are pending due to lack of resources. It is known to be the poorest MCD out of the three trifurcated ones. If the municipality sees the concentration of unauthorized colonies in the East-Delhi part as an opportunity rather than a deterrent, it can afford more than what it targets. Authorization can yield more revenue than projected in the case of tax hike.
Regulation of Informal Economy: There are large numbers of undocumented/informal industries in Delhi which employ large population. The government loses the opportunity to collect taxes and maintain associated demographic data. Also, such economy contributes to the sustenance of large unauthorized population. Regulating them would bring parity and benefits to the government of the underground grey markets.
Information: Much population living in unauthorized areas are kinetic and thus undocumented. With Regularization government will be able to build and update their demographic information. It can generate information for the kinetic population and permanent population and devise better urban mechanisms to control migration and other urban issues. It thus, can generate more precise trends and forecast in better ways.
Against the Motion Regularization is a vicious cycle and lawmakers justifiably argue that such urban process pave way for more and more Law-infringement and circumvention. Temporary/Provisional programs incentivize and augment rather than controlling the kinetics of population. Delineating such path to regularization makes it vulnerable to lifestyle-deterioration due to population rise and congestion.
REALIZATION “…The present method of regularization of unauthorized colonies is by the provision of basic infrastructure to improve the environment. However, regularization has not really brought in any tangible improvement. Effectively, the process has only led to tenure rights on the land and access to services.”
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Levinson, Amanda, „Why countries continue to consider Regularization‟, http://www.migrationinformation.org September, 2005 9 HT correspondent, „Old taxes hiked, new ones planned‟, Hindustan Times, December 07, 2012 10 MPD, 2021
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With large waves of urbanization and economic flux in cities irregular settlements including are inevitable and face new economic, cultural and social realities-the force behind such huge population influx. Irregular settlements that include unauthorized colonies, squatters and slums are inseparable entities of a city. Holly Young has interestingly pointed out the current approach of Urbanists. He explains that cities are now viewed with respect to slums. Slums have assumed a symbolic function that defines the cities of the future. 11
Holly writes , “The slum evidently has a dual symbolic function. For some, the future city is defined by the slum; for others, it is defined by its absence... The two urban spaces are in fact Siamese twins, joined at conception, with the growth of the former necessitating the latter”. More than the necessity, regularization is a moral responsibility for a democratic state (Delhi), and even more when 70% of its population is lives in Unauthorized Colonies. “Focus of planning shifted from ‘the principle of controlled development of land’ to ‘the principle of demand and supply’ of open economy. Due to this paradigm shift, traditional planning requires to readjust its planning tools like master plan and zonal plans, in such a way that it recognizes ground realities and it is also acceptable to the people.”
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Ideally speaking, „Regularization‟ attempts to empower the marginalized
population by imparting them identity, social security and sustainability. Such process, if managed and acted properly, has evidently
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led to human development and sustenance. Mechanism for large-scale and
replicable intervention policies should be devised. Concepts of Regeneration and Rehabilitation should be applied for site specific results. This entails a careful mix of bottom & top down approach where the localitywise/differential standards can fit efficiently within the development framework as set in Zonal and Master Plans. MPD 2021 for the first time resorted to procedures rather than standards (which are site specific) and applied the planning tool of „Procedure Based Planning‟ which makes it implementable and result oriented.
Newfound and Perennial Problems: In the Bottoms-up approach, Resident Welfare Association is a crucial body that collaborates with the government in achieving tasks of regularization process. Difficult tasks of land pooling, road widening, land conversion or land evacuation leads to a discord among the participants (nobody will surrender his land without proper compensation). No proper organizational setup is maintained by the government to monitor or intervene in such pre-development exercises. These problems are left as an obligation for the RWAs to tackle with and come-up with an interim real-solution if not unreal.
Political agendas have made the situation complex and pervasive. Holds on regularization proceedings are indirect motivations to increase population and hence vote banks. Regularization should thus, be wherever 11
Young, Holly (2013), „The slum as a symbol of our urban future‟, http://urb.im/blog/rc/130204 Accessed on February 05, 2013 12 Uttarwar, P. S, „A Planning Approach for Fast Changing “Socio-Political” Environment: A Case of Delhi Master Plan‟, Delhi Development Authority, India, 48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 13 Powers, Mary. G; Kraly Ellen P; Seltzer William, „IRCA: Lessons of the Last US Legalization Program‟, http://www.migrationinformation.org July 2004
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possible independent of Political induction and influence. Mechanisms for independent inquiry and intervention at local level, only at the inception of the settlement, should be adequately dealt with. Local participation, awareness and assistance of advocacy groups should be included as principals for good development. It must be ensured that for improvement of physical and social infrastructure, the minimum necessary / feasible level of services and community facilities are provided „whereverâ€&#x; necessary. Furthermore, urban managers should duly assume the role of facilitators rather providers. They should control trends of land speculation and should find new mechanisms for land distribution.
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Bibliography 1. Bhan, Gautam. "Capital's Sealing Drive: Whose Delhi is it anyway?" 7 October 2006. tehelka. 2. Dupont, Véronique. "Slum Demolitions in Delhi since the 1990s : An Appraisal." Economic and Political Weekly 12 July 2008. 3. Master Planning Delhi 2021. Rupa, n.d. 4. Bhan, Gautam, „It‟s their World too‟, Hindustan Times, September 16, 2012 5. Ohri, Raghav, „HC slams Hooda govt for „justifying‟ regularisation of illegal colonies‟, Indian Express, August 01, 2012 6. Batra, Nidhi, „Slums – a phenomenon or aftermath of Urbanisation?‟ http://terraurban.wordpress.com February 6, 2013 7. Levinson, Amanda, „Why countries continue to consider Regularization‟, http://www.migrationinformation.org September, 2005 8. Young, Holly (2013), „The slum as a symbol of our urban future‟, http://urb.im/blog/rc/130204 Accessed on February 05, 2013 9. Powers, Mary. G; Kraly Ellen P; Seltzer William, „IRCA: Lessons of the Last US Legalization Program‟, http://www.migrationinformation.org July 2004 10.
Uttarwar, P. S, „A Planning Approach for Fast Changing “Socio-Political” Environment: A Case of
Delhi Master Plan‟, Delhi Development Authority, India, 48th ISOCARP Congress 2012
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