Builders must get occupancy papers soon: DM to Authority

NOIDA: Gautam Budh Nagar's district magistrate N P Singh has written to the Noida Authority requesting it to ask developers to obtain occupancy certificates.

According to Singh, the developers are delaying the handing over of flats to homebuyers, using the excuse of the eco-sensitive zone around the Okhla bird sanctuary. This is leading to a revenue loss for the government. The government will earn nearly Rs 450 crore once over 80,000 flats, falling within the 10-km radius of the sanctuary, are registered.

In his letter (a copy of which is with TOI), the district magistrate has said that home buyers are in a state of panic as they have still not got possession of their flats, despite the Centre notifying the eco-sensitive zone around the sanctuary. His contention is that builders have defaulted on their payment - remaining portion of the land cost - to the Noida Authority, without which they won't get occupancy certificates, and without which they can't hand over buildings to homebuyers.

"Due to the delay in registration of properties, the stamp and registration department could not achieve the revenue target," the letter said.

When contacted, Singh said, "I have written a letter to the Noida Authority to take necessary action into the matter so that relief homebuyers get relief and the stamp and registration department achieves its revenue target."

Officials of the UP stamp and registration department also said that the department could not achieve the desired stamp duty against the registry of those flats, which got delayed because it took time to demarcate the eco-sensitive zone around the sanctuary. The officials said more than two weeks have passed but so far no registry has taken place because the developers have not obtained occupancy certificates from the Noida Authority. "The department was expecting revenue on account of stamp duty, but so far no flat has been registered," UP stamp and registration department's deputy inspector general Arvind Singh Chandel said.

Source: Times of India

MPD needs tuning, operational guidelines to work

NEW DELHI: Three years and more than 100 amendments later, the revised Master Plan for Delhi 2021 (MPD-2021) is nearly ready. While the Centre will soon notify provisions for transit-oriented development (TOD) and the environment, some amendments have already been implemented.

But is MPD-2021 a feasible plan? How much of it has been implemented? Does it really address the pressing concerns of the city and provide a realistic vision for sustainable development? Is it in sync with the ground realities? These are some of the questions on Delhi's mind.

Experts say many features of MPD-2021 have remained on paper for reasons ranging from the multiplicity of authorities in the city to poor enforcement and planning by the agencies concerned and the presence of many unauthorized colonies, slums, resettlement colonies and villages. Urban planners and experts TOI spoke to said the city needs operational guidelines to implement the MPD and these should be a part of the document.

The failure of civic and government agencies to prepare a local area plan (LAP) even after eight years is an example of the complications in the way of MPD-2021. The erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi had made an LAP for some municipal wards but it was never notified as MCD said it didn't have the powers to notify it while DDA insisted only MCD could notify it. "Due to this technical discrepancy, there is no approved LAP which is critical for any area's development. Operational guidelines will help in overcoming such discrepancies and help in faster implementation of the plan," said Sanjukta Bhaduri, head of the department of urban planning in School of Planning and Architecture who prepared some of the LAPs.

Experts say the MPD is good as a 'vision document' as it provides for sustainable development with provisions like TOD, land pooling and stress on conservation of heritage and the environment, but some of its provisions are not in sync with ground realities.

More than 60% of Delhi's population lives in unauthorized colonies, rural and urban villages and unauthorized regularized colonies. The document doesn't dwell much on the development needs of the people living in these areas. "Regularization of unauthorized colonies can't happen as per the terms and conditions of the present master plan. Building plans can't be sanctioned here as per the MPD. These colonies have come up illegally. There is a need to have different norms for them," said urban planner A G K Menon.

As a result, even "people-friendly" features like sub-division and amalgamation of plots haven't worked. Sub-division of plots was allowed in unauthorized regularized (UR) colonies, but it has not found any takers as the permitted floor-area ratio (FAR) is based on the plot's original size. "In most cases, the FAR has already been used up by people living on the sub-divided plots so fresh construction cannot be carried out on the vacant portion of the plot. This has led to rampant unauthorized construction in UR colonies," said a South Corporation official.

Experts say illegal construction is rampant in Delhi, so each master plan has focused on regularizing illegal activities. The 2007 MPD provided for legalizing commercial establishments in residential areas by allowing mixed land use. Now, the revised plan proposes low-density residential areas (LDRA), which is a way to regularize illegal farmhouses. Corporation officials say LDRA actually allows more dwelling units per plot.

"The vision is limited by the burden of the present. Each plan regularizes what has come up illegally. It is about time we seriously address the issues and provide practical solutions to decongest the city. There are villages which are 300 years old. There is a need for a special plan to restore them," said K T Ravindran, urban designer and former DUAC chairperson.

Experts say the provisions related to parking space need to be revised, as MPD-2021 stressed on providing parking while now the thrust is on public transport. "MPD-2021 allows for two equivalent car spaces per 100-sq metre of residential area and three in commercial areas. There is an urgent need to undo this clause for the success of TOD," said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment.

There's also a need for a rolling process of planning for timely course-correction. "Twenty years is too long a period for planning, given the city's complexities and fast growth rate," said Bhaduri.

New Delhi: To a common man it seems strange that years are spent in drawing and reviewing the master plan but Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the city's planning agency, says making the 'vision document' is a mammoth task. Decisions are taken after a lot of discussion between experts and implemented only after seeking and incorporating the public's views.

DDA had formed 12 sub-groups of experts from various fields to discuss the city's development and growing requirements of shelter, traffic and transportation, trade and commerce, etc.

More than 200 experts took two years to prepare the draft of Master Plan for Delhi 2021 after the Union urban development ministry commissioned it in 2003. Each group had academicians, experts working on the ground and government representatives. "They submitted their recommendations after reviewing sectoral studies and current problems like the commercialization of residential areas," said a senior DDA official.

Experts say the main objective of MPD-2021 was to address the city's growing needs while conserving the environment and heritage.

After the draft plan was notified in March 2005, DDA received more than 7,000 suggestions and objections from the public. "Close to 90% of the suggestions were related to property. We incorporated the suggestions for the city's development and sent them to our advisory council for approval," a DDA official said.

Finalizing a master plan after incorporating the public's suggestions takes a long time. The draft plan is vetted by various committees for legal and technical issues before it is sent to the Union urban development ministry which notifies it after receiving the Cabinet's approval.

"The entire exercise for preparing a draft plan is repeated after the public's suggestions are incorporated. That is why it takes years," said the official.

The same process is followed to notify a revised master plan. The revision started in early-2012 and the government is notifying the changes in phases. DDA officials say more than 100 amendments have already been made to MPD-2021. The urban development ministry is in the process of finalizing the last chapter on environment, which will be posted for people's suggestions and objections soon. Sources say the review is likely to end by December.

Source: Times Of India

How smart city tag can transform Ghaziabad realty

The Urban Development Minister, Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday unveiled the names of 98 cities which will come under the scrutiny of a smart city tag. Uttar Pradesh has the largest share of developing 13 smart cities, Ghaziabad being one of them. 

Will this news kick start the real estate market of Ghaziabad which has been stagnant in the last couple of months? ‘Yes,’ say industry experts.  

“The population moving to Ghaziabad over the last decade are salaried professionals, who are mostly tech savvy. Some of them are also concerned about the environment. Smart City is a concept that makes life easier for residents and enhances their quality of life. It is not limited to technology," says Gaurav Gupta, general secretary, CREDAI Raj Nagar Extension.

It includes transportation, waste management, traffic management, etc.  Ghaziabad has been shortlisted for stage 2 of the smart city mission. Everyone including real estate developers will work towards providing such an environment,” he adds.

The development authority plans to put up informative LEDs running on solar energy, free Wi-Fi access to residents of Ghaziabad for a limited period, etc.

Developing Ghaziabad as a smart city, will definitely bring in positive results. Developers will increasingly focus on energy conservation, pollution control and come up with eco-friendly projects that will add value to the lives of the residents also quality of living for residents will improve significantly,” Gupta adds.

Currently, Ghaziabad is going through infrastructural development - from Metro connectivity to flyovers and roads. “We have already executed the first phase of metro line from Anand Vihar to Vaishali. In the second phase, we are taking the metro from Dilshad Garden to Ghaziabad new bus stand through Mohan Nagar. In the third phase, we are planning metro line from Sector 62, Noida to Indirapuram CISF Road," says VK Goel, chief engineer, Ghaziabad Development Authority.

Further, there is a proposal in pipeline from Indirapuram CISF Road to Link Road and Vaishali to Mohan Nagar. The related Detailed Project Reports (DPR) are under preparation,” he adds.

Expert says that if the above mentioned development successfully completes and the government starts its process of converting the city into a Smart City, then it will push the property values significantly. “The announcement of it will only help in pushing up the values in the next 6 months or so, by at least 10-15 per cent. Once the metro and other infrastructures gets completed, property prices can grow even further,” says Ankur Budhiraja, AB Corporations, a local real estate agent. 

Ghaziabad might be considered as the city to invest. Under the smart city tag, it will definitely progress and being close to Delhi will boost its prefer-ability amongst buyers in months to come. Make an investment when the property prices are still lower and make the most of the opportunity.

Source: Magicbricks 

305 cities identified under 'Housing for All' scheme

The government has identified 305 cities and towns across nine states for implementation of its ambitious 'Housing for All' scheme.

As many as 305 cities and towns have been identified in nine states for beginning of construction of houses for the urban poor under the scheme, said a senior Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Ministry official.

The HUPA Ministry would provide assistance of over Rs 2 lakh crore over the next six years for enabling two crore urban poor own their own houses.

The selected cities and towns are in Chhattisgarh (36 cities/towns), Gujarat (30), Jammu and Kashmir (19), Jharkhand (15), Kerala (15), Madhya Pradesh (74), Odisha (42), Rajasthan (40) and Telangana (34).

Under the 'Housing for All' initiative of the central government, named as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25 this year, two crore houses are targeted to be built for the poor in urban areas by year 2022, coinciding with 75 years of Independence.

Besides these nines states, the official said, six more states have signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Ministry committing themselves to implement six mandatory reforms essential for making the housing mission in urban areas a success.

The states that have so far agreed to implement the mandatory reform measures are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana an and Uttarakhand.

By signing the MoA, the states agreed to make necessary changes including doing away with the requirement of separate non-agricultural permission in case land falls in residential zone earmarked in Master Plan of city or town and preparing or amending Master Plans earmarking land for affordable housing, among others.

Other reforms include putting in place a single-window and time-bound clearance system for layout approvals and building permissions, doing away with approvals below certain built-up area size in respect of economically weaker sections and low income groups.

Legislating or amending existing rent laws on the lines of the Model Tenancy Act circulated by the Ministry and to provide additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR)/Floor Space Index/Transferable Development Rights (TDR) and relax density norms, for slum redevelopment and low cost housing are other reforms to be carried out by states as per the MoA.

Under the urban housing mission, the Centre will provide an assistance in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.30 lakh per unit under different components of the scheme including in-situ redevelopment of slums using land as resource, credit- linked subsidy scheme, affordable housing in partnership, and beneficiary led individual construction/improvement. 

Source: The Economic Times

LIST OF SMART INDIA DECLARED

Taking another giant leap forward, the BJP-led NDA government today declared the list of 98 out of 100 cities for the round 1 to be developed under the Smart India Mission that also accounts to 35 percent of India’s urban population. The list declared includes 12 cities for Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) shortlisted against the 13 nominated, 12 cities for Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra got 10, Madhya Pradesh 7, Gujarat and Karnataka gets 6 each, Rajasthan and West Bengal 4 each, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab 3 each, 2 each for Odisha, Telangana, Chhatisgarh and Haryana, 1 each for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerela, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand nominated. The remaining 2 cities will be declared later as Jammu & Kashmir wanted more to time to decide between Jammu and Srinagar for their nomination and U.P. has got one less. A total central funding of Rs. 48,000 crores for smart cities was declared on 25^th June when our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Smart India Mission. As per the five year plan for smart cities, the government will allocate Rs. 200 crore this year and follow up with Rs. 100 crore every year for remaining four years. Of those chosen for the smart cities project, 24 are capital cities, 24 are business hubs and 18 are cultural centres. The top 20 cities will be financed this year and the rest of the cities will be asked to overcome their deficiencies and prepare for round 2 of the competition. In the next 5-6 years, Rs. 3 lakh crores will be spent in developing the towns to provide world-class infrastructure, sustainable environment and smart solutions.

Uttar Pradesh gets the biggest chunk:

The most populous and politically vital state of India, U.P. has got 12 cities against 13 nominated namely; Moradabad, Aligarh, Saharanpur, Bareilly, Jhansi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Lucknow, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Agra and Rampur that accounts to a joint population of 1,53,30,266. Mr. Deepak Kapoor, President-CREDAI Western U.P. & Director, GulshanHomzavers “It was extremely important that Uttar Pradesh got the maximum of the smart cities being the most populous of the states of India. The cities shortlisted are most apt to become the smart cities for this state due to agricultural, industrial, manufacturing and service sectors being the prime contributors. At the same time, U.P. as a state has also got most major infrastructural links and future plans well laid to justify being the maximum getter from this list. Uttar Pradesh has not only being independent for its survival but plays a crucial role in shaping up neighbouring states and thus, transforming this state will yield better results in future”. Adding to the view, Mr. Rajesh Goyal, Vice President-CREDAI Western U.P. & MD, RG Group says “The most awaited list has finally come out with U.P. and Tamil Nadu leading the way. Speaking about U.P., out of the 13 initial cities shortlisted, the actual 12 best have made through. The list of cities shortlisted for Uttar Pradesh covers almost the entire state with maximum focus on the western and central U.P. as they meet the maximum parameters of being cities of the future. With the boat of Smart India Mission finally set to sail, we will have a different India altogether in the upcoming one decade”.

From the very first day when the plan of Smart IndiaMission was launched; Uttar Pradesh was destined to get the maximum smart cities. The state of U.P. was created on 1^st April, 1937 as the United Provinces, and was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950. Lucknow is the largest city and the capital of U.P. The other key cities such as Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Bareilly, Aligarh, Varanasi and others play a crucial role in shaping up the state into an industrial hub of the country. U.P. shares its boundary with 8 states and 1 country to its north and covers almost 2,50,000 sq. kms., equal to 7 percent of the total area of India; and is the fourth largest Indian state by area. The state also boasts of being among the top 3 states in the country contributing maximum to the Indian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “History has been a witness to how important role U.P. has played in developing India since its very independence. It is great to see that U.P. tops the list for maximum number of smart cities in the country. At present also, there is a lot of infrastructural work carried throughout the state which will act as a perfect catalyst for the development of smart cities in U.P. Smart cities will assist in enhancing the lifestyle of people which will help in making them more efficient and effective, that directly contributes to growth of a region”, explains Mr. KushagrAnsal, Director, Ansal Housing.

“Developing Smart Cities will be like revamping the existing ones into better and much proficient cities that will not only promote growth of the region but provide a better living style to its residents. Development of smart cities will largely attract job employment, FDI, infrastructural growth and economic development of a region which will directly add to the GDP of the country and progress of Uttar Pradesh as a state”, states Mr. Amrit Pal Singh, Executive Director, Aprameya Group. Also agrees Mr. Ankit Aggarwal, CMD, Devika Group, as he says “There exist a ripple effect of growth in the neighbouring areas once a region observes independent growth. The refurbishing of the 12 cities of Uttar Pradesh will act as a push to their nearby regions. For instance, Ghaziabad as a smart city will promote development of Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway and other such nearby regions. Thus, the 12 smart cities will have a multiplier effect on the other regions that will develop the entire state and consequently, the country”.

India on road to development:

With the list of 98 citiesout; now we are talking development of the nation. A decision that every citizenof this country has been dreaming for the last one year is now becoming real. It is to be understood that not only will the 98 cities witness development across the nation but to develop those smart cities, neighbouring and related cities will have to be bought to a bare minimum development graph to support the smart cities around. The division looks just and logical with almost every key contributing city being touched. “The day is not far now when we’ll see smart cities up and running in India asnow we are moving towards a healthy and much sustainable environment. Almost 35 percent of India’s urban population falls within these 98 cities that will now see a major mental and physical makeover of its population. The road to India’s development is now becoming fairly visible that will be most significant to bring this country on the global map”, claims Mr. Dujender Bhardwaj, Director, Marina Suites.

The development of smart cities will pave way for global giants to invest in India in a big way thereby enhancing the FDI inflow for the country in the form of liquidity, manpower, technology and knowledge. This will in turn help in boosting the economic and human development of the country. “Our country is now fully prepared to develop into a smart nation with smart people. In order to ensure smooth development of smart cities; it will be most imperative that the central and state governments work hand-in-hand with each other in implementation of plans and procedures. Clearing the land and GST bill has become the need of hour now and providing timely clearance to projects will be most crucial, only then can we see timely execution of smart cities in our country”, concludes Mr. Rajnikant Sharma, CMD, RJ Group.

List of 98 cities shortlisted for stage-2 of Smart Cities Mission:

S.No.	Name of State/UT	No. of Cities shortlisted	Names of Potential Cities shortlisted	Population of cities
1	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	1	1.      Port Blair	1,40,572
2	Andhra Pradesh	3	1.      Vishakapatnam 2.      Tirupati 3.      Kakinada	18,78,980 3,74,260 3,50,986
3	Arunachal Pradesh	1	1.      Pasighat	24,656
4	Assam	1	1.      Guwahati	9,62,334
5	Bihar	3	1.      Muzaffarpur 2.      Bhagalpur 3.      Biharsharif	3,93,724 4,10,210 2,96,889
6	Chandigarh	1	1.      Chandigarh	10,55,450
7	Chhattisgarh	2	1.      Raipur 2.      Bilaspur	10,47,389 3,65,579
8	Daman & Diu	1	1.      Diu	23,991
9	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	1	1.      Silvassa	98,032
10	Delhi	1	1.      New Delhi Municipal Council	2,49,998
11	Goa	1	1.      Panaji	1,00,000
12	Gujarat	6	1.      Gandhinagar 2.      Ahemdabad 3.      Surat 4.      Vadodara 5.      Rajkot 6.      Dahod	2,92,797 55,77,940 44,67,797 17,52,371 13,23,363 1,30,530
13	Haryana	2	1.      Karnal 2.      Faridabad	3,02,140 14,14,050
14	Himachal Pradesh	1	1.      Dharmashala	22,580
15	Jharkhand	1	1.      Ranchi	10,73,427
16	Karnataka	6	1.      Mangaluru 2.      Belagavi 3.      Shivamogga 4.      Hubballi-Dharwad 5.      Tumakuru 6.      Davanegere	4,84,785 4,88,292 3,22,428 9,43,857 3,05,821 4,35,128
17	Kerala	1	1.      Kochi	6,01,574
18	Lakshadweep	1	1.      Kavaratti	11,210
19	Madhya Pradesh	7	1.      Bhopal 2.      Indore 3.      Jabalpur 4.      Gwalior 5.      Sagar 6.      Satna 7.      Ujjain	19,22,130 21,95,274 12,16,445 11,59,032 2,73,296 2,80,222 5,15,215
20	Maharashtra	10	1.      Navi Mumbai 2.      Nashik 3.      Thane 4.      Greater Mumbai 5.      Amravati 6.      Solapur 7.      Nagpur 8.      Kalyan-Dombivall 9.      Aurangabad 10.  Pune	11,19,000 14,86,000 18,41,000 1,24,00,000 7,45,000 9,52,000 24,60,000 15,18,000 11,65,000 31,24,000
21	Manipur	1	1.      Imphal	2,68,243
22	Meghalaya	1	1.      Shillong	3,54,325
23	Mizoram	1	1.      Aizawl	2,91,000
24	Nagaland	1	1.      Kohima	1,07,000
25	Odisha	2	1.      Bhubaneshwar 2.      Raurkela	8,40,834 3,10,976
26	Puducherry	1	1.      Oulgaret	3,00,104
27	Punjab	3	1.      Ludhiana 2.      Jalandhar 3.      Amritsar	16,18,879 8,68,181 11,55,664
28	Rajasthan	4	1.      Jaipur 2.      Udaipur 3.      Kota 4.      Ajmer	30,73,350 4,75,150 10,01,365 5,51,360
29	Sikkim	1	1.      Namchi	12,190
30	Tamil Nadu	12	1.      Tiruchirapalli 2.      Tirunelveli 3.      Dindigul 4.      Thanjavur 5.      Tiruppur 6.      Salem 7.      Vellore 8.      Coimbatore 9.      Madurai 10.  Erode 11.  Thoothukudi 12.  Chennai	9,16,674 4,74,838 2,07,327 2,22,943 8,77,778 8,31,038 5,04,079 16,01,438 15,61,129 4,98,129 3,70,896 67,27,000
31	Telangana	2	1.      Greater Hyderabad 2.      Greater Warangal	67,31,790 8,19,406
32	Tripura	1	1.      Agartala	4,00,004
33	Uttar Pradesh*	12	1.      Moradabad 2.      Aligarh 3.      Saharanpur 4.      Bareilly 5.      Jhansi 6.      Kanpur 7.      Allahabad 8.      Lucknow 9.      Varanasi 10.  Ghaziabad 11.  Agra 12.  Rampur	8,87,871 8,74,408 7,05,478 9,03,668 5,05,693 27,65,348 11,12,544 28,17,105 11,98,491 16,48,643 15,85,704 3,25,313
34	Uttarakhand	1	1.      Dehradun	5,83,971
35	West Bengal	4	1.      New Town Kolkatta 2.      Bidhannagar 3.      Durgapur 4.      Haldia	36,541 6,33,704 5,71,000 2,72,000
36.	Total - 35	98	98	11,01,18,799

*12 cities have been shortlisted from Uttar Pradesh against the 13 cities allocated.

Note: Jammu & Kashmir has asked for more time to decide on their potential Smart City.