Delhi Elections: How Politics Weighs Over Processes in Regularisation of Unauthorised Colonies

New Delhi: The politics of unauthorised colonies in the national capital grabs centrestage in almost every election. The February 8 poll in Delhi is no exception. The issue, which found a voice in the initial stages of the campaign, was later replaced by ‘Shaheen Bagh’ and a ‘shoot-the-traitors’ narratives by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

Last year, the Centre approved the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Bill, 2019 during the Winter Session of Parliament. The Act granted ownership rights to 40 lakh people living in unauthorised colonies within Delhi. Both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in power at the Centre and in Delhi respectively, trained their guns on each other over the issue.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the BJP was “blatantly lying” about regularising these colonies. His party put up hoardings across the city which said: “DDA website: ‘Unauthorised colonies are not getting regularised’. 4 million people have been cheated.”

The BJP fought back, with Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, contended that the party would start registration for granting ownership rights to residents of the 1,731 eligible unauthorised colonies in the next 8-10 days.

Amid claims and counter-claims, NewsClick attempted to uncover the reality behind the regularisation of informal settlements. Nearly 30% of the city’s population (roughly 7 in 10 residents), who form a big chunk of the AAP’s voter base, lives in illegal colonies that lack basic necessities such as sewage, access to clean water and health infrastructure.

Residents of such colonies, however, say the AAP government has done a lot to address these issues to a great extent. “We changed the laws to ensure development work is done in unauthorised colonies. We spent Rs 8,000 crore for the development of these colonies. Out of 1,797 such colonies, 1,281 now have roads, 1,130 have sewers and 1,554 have water supply pipes,” claimed Kejriwal during the release of the Delhi government’s report card in December last year.

Unauthorised Colonies (UACs) have been defined as one of seven types of unplanned settlements in Delhi, built on land which is either not zoned for residential use by the Master Plan (for 1962, 2001, and 2021) or which has not yet been included in the development area. These colonies are most often situated on land zoned for agricultural use that has been illegally subdivided into residential plots.

ATTEMPTS AT REGULARISATION

After a series of attempts made for regularisation of UACs, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the land owning agency in the national capital, laid down guidelines for the first time and notified regulations in 2008. It involved three government bodies — the DDA (a Central government body), the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and the city’s municipal bodies (MCD/New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC)).

An unauthorised colony — according to Mukta Naik and Manish of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi — qualifies to apply for regularisation only if it has a registered Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA).

“Additionally, the colony should have a layout plan and a complete and detailed list of residents. The layout plan has to include information such as boundaries of the colony, names of streets and neighbouring areas. It must be accompanied by documents, including land details and undertakings by the RWA stating that they shall abide by the layout plans as may be approved with or without conditions, and that they shall transfer any available land to the DDA or the MCD/NDMC free of cost so that the government might provide social infrastructure,” they said.

After four years of the notification, a total of 895 unauthorised colonies were notified as eligible for regularisation.

CPR says that a settlement-level regularisation was done in the 2008 process. It was done to extend basic services to UACs. Plot-level regularisation, which gives property titles to its owners, could not be done because it demands a lot of documentation to prove land ownership and payment of registration charges.

In absence of registry facility, properties change hands with the General Power of Attorney (GPA). The dwellers don’t have access to formal housing finance because there is no formal property titles. “So, aspiration for improved housing and enhanced property values motivate the actions and demands of UAC residents in Delhi,” they added.

A NEW LAW FOR REGULARISATION

The latest move by the government to regularise the UACs and give title deeds to residents is based on a process which relies on technology. The DDA regulations notified in October 2019 seek online applications from individual residents of UACs for rights and a conveyance of title. They have to pay some charges within a fixed time and the paper work is minimal.

As per the gazette notification, colony boundaries will be identified with the help of satellite images and verification will be done with the help of geographic information system.

In December 2019, with an aim to facilitate the process, Parliament passed a legislation overriding a Supreme Court judgment dated October 11, 2011, in the case of Suraj Lamp & Industries (P) Ltd. Vs. State of Haryana & others. In the verdict, the apex court held that the sale agreement/General Power of Attorney or Will transactions are not “transfers” or “sales” and that such transactions cannot be treated as completed transfers or conveyances and that they can continue to be treated as existing agreement or sale.

The new law passed by both houses of Parliament also allowed stamp duty and registration charges to be levied only on the final amount in the conveyance deed, exempting previous transactions.

In a bid to extract political gains in the upcoming Delhi election, the Centre floated a new scheme namely Prime Minister’s Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojana (PM-UDAY). The GNCTD and the municipal bodies were kept away from the scheme so that they could not claim any credit.

“This is rather ironic given that it was the DDA’s failure to provide adequate affordable housing over the years that caused unauthorised colonies to mushroom in the first place, while the impetus for regularisation has come primarily from MLAs,” said the two researchers.

After the move came under criticism, the DDA finally acknowledged the role of the GNCTD by saying that the Department of Delhi Fire Services will give approval to colony layout plans and fire clearances.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

The experts say that as the number of applicants has increased to 1,731, the process is likely to face a number of challenges ahead. “One area of concern is the efficacy of a paperless, online process: early objections to the satellite maps and boundaries of colonies indicate that it will take some effort to resolve this highly contested terrain. Secondly, the new regulations do not clarify either the relationship between the settlement and plot-level regularisation processes, or their chronology,” they said.

Lastly, they said, in absence of amendments to the Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) 2021 so far, it is unclear how construction norms and higher floor area ratio will be decided either.