Regularization Of Illegal Colonies In Delhi To Spur Investment Opportunities

Delhi has been plagued by illegal construction for over five decades, but recent moves by the government to regularize unauthorized colonies are opening up investment opportunities in plots in Delhi and upcoming properties in Delhi in a big way.

Statistics clearly reveal that about one-third of Delhi's total population resides in areas that have been marked as unauthorized by the government. These areas have been constructed either in breach of zoning regulations and against Delhi Master Plan, or in the illegally subdivided agricultural land. From a property investor's point of view, residing in an unauthorized colony leads to two undesirable outcomes: First, the owner cannot transfer his land as per the regulations, and second, the owner is forced to bear with the low and inadequate civic amenities.

Process of regularization

The move to regularize unauthorized colonies in Delhi is intended to identify such colonies and provide them with legal status. Properties in these areas will be recognized and registered by the Delhi government. While the first moves in this direction were made in the 1970s and early 1980s, factors like the infamous builder-politician-municipal authority nexus had prevented the realisation of this dream. Recent developments, however, indicate that the process of regularization is likely to see the light of day soon.

The new government in Delhi, under the leadership of Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal, has now provided a major relief to those residing in the unauthorized colonies of Delhi. Chief Minister Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia recently announced the official demarcation of boundaries of about 1,650 unauthorized colonies in Delhi, including the 800 monitored by the Center. To do this, latest tools like satellite imagery and total solution methods will be employed. Once this particular task is completed, the next phase in the process of regularization will be the registration of the properties in these illegal colonies.

Relief to unauthorized colonies

After successful identification, division and registration of the properties in these colonies, related maps will be assigned to the Delhi Development Authority for making amendments in the directives pertaining to land use and to the respective Municipal Corporations for making the layout plans. According to the announcements made by the Delhi Government, for a colony, the eligibility criterion is its existence since June 1, 2014, and in the case of a building, it is January 1, 2015. It has also been decided that all those properties that have been booked under the three municipal authorities of Delhi in 12 zones will also be registered. This relief will enable many people to get their properties registered.

This also implies that the owners of such unregistered properties and those residing in unregistered colonies in Delhi will have to wait until they get their property legally registered. Currently, they are deprived of community facilities, and land use is being changed to rectify the situation. Once the colonies are registered, it is also expected that the value of the properties in such areas will rise. Keeping this in mind, the AAP government has one more duty to fulfil before the next election in Delhi.

Role of Delhi government

It was also decided that the registry of these areas would commence from April 1, 2015, as stated by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. News reports have revealed that following this announcement, Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia were challenged and invited for an open discussion by Ajay Maken, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President. The Congress has accused the AAP of misguiding the people, and even declared their intention to launch protests on the streets of Delhi in case the AAP government fails to register all the 1,639 unauthorized colonies within two months. The Kejriwal administration has responded by stating that there are no previous records that reveal any substantial steps by existing governments on this issue, and that it has every intention of seeing the regularization process through.

Either way, immense pressure is on the Delhi government to ensure the regularisation of unauthorized colonies in Delhi, and this can only be interpreted as good news for those interested in investing in properties in Delhi.