VISION

• The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is holding public consultations for the preparation of the Master Plan for Delhi 2041.
• It is a vision document for the city’s development over the next two decades.
• The existing Master Plan 2021 will be outdated next year.
• The agency wants to notify the new plan by the time that happens.
• The draft policy’s focus on water bodies and the land around it, which is referred to as the “Green-Blue policy”, would give the city a new shape.

• ‘Blue’ infrastructure refers to water bodies like rivers, canals, ponds, wetlands, floodplains, and water treatment facilities.
• ‘Green’ infrastructure stands for trees, lawns, hedgerows, parks, fields, and forests.
• The concept refers to urban planning where water bodies and land are interdependent, and grow with the help of each other.
• They will offer environmental and social benefits.

• The DDA plans to deal with the multiplicity of agencies, which because of the special nature of the state, has plagued it for several years.
• It wants to map out the issues of jurisdiction, work being done by different agencies on drains, and the areas around them.
• Thereafter, a comprehensive policy will be drawn up, which would then act as the common direction for all agencies.

• Delhi has around 50 big drains (blue) managed by different agencies.
• Due to their poor condition and encroachment, the land around them (green) has also been affected.
• The DDA, along with other agencies, will integrate them.
• They will remove all sources of pollution by checking the outfall of untreated wastewater as well as removal of existing pollutants.
• A mix of mechanised and natural systems may be adopted.
• Dumping of solid wastes in any of these sites will be strictly prohibited by local bodies, through the imposition of penalties.

• Land around these drains, carrying storm water, will be declared as special buffer projects.
• A network of connected green space would be developed in the form of green mobility circuits of pedestrian and cycling paths.
• There is a plan to develop spaces for yoga, active sports (without formal seating), open air theatres, and other low impact public uses.
• The nature of use, extent of public access, type of vegetation, etc. shall be ascertained on a case-to-case basis through scientific assessments.
• Real estate would be developed along these integrated corridors.

• The biggest challenge here is the multiplicity of agencies.
• DDA wants to bring together different agencies like Delhi Jal Board, Flood and Irrigation Department, and municipal corporations as stakeholders in the project.
• In a city where even waterlogging turns into a blame game between different agencies, this will be a tough task.
• It will be tough, especially as the DDA has no supervisory power over these bodies.
• Cleaning of water bodies and drains has been a challenge for agencies in Delhi for years now.
• An IIT-Delhi report on 20 major sewer drains and 5 sites on the River Yamuna found abundant presence of coliform and other pollutants.
• Only rainwater is supposed to flow in these drains, but the study found sewage waste and even industrial waste in some.
• A similar attempt made by DDA earlier, where a special task force was created to check dumping of waste in Yamuna, has not been successful.

📰 Digital disconnect