NEW DELHI: Residents from Sector B, Pocket 1, Vasant Kunj, marched in protest on Wednesday evening against the upcoming housing project in the middle of the pocket. We filed a writ petition last month on the issue and the first hearing took place on Aug 16. The court asked the departments concerned to submit their replies but did not stay the project.”
The RWA of the area is also pursuing the matter in court and the next hearing is scheduled for Sept 11. “We are contesting the issue legally but not participating in the march,” said Brijesh Chaudhary, president, B1 RWA. “We filed a writ petition last month on the issue and the first hearing took place on Aug 16. The court asked the departments concerned to submit their replies but did not stay the project.”
Rohit Sejwal, a representative of the housing project, however, claimed that all necessary permissions had been acquired and there was no violation of regulations.
The residents argue that the project goes against DDA’s ‘Regulations for Enabling the Planned Development of Privately Owned Lands’. “The norms specify that the category or type of development activity in privately owned land should be in conformity with the existing development surrounding that particular land parcel,” explained Rajeev Ranjan, former RWA president. Sameer Khullar, another resident, elaborated, “But unlike the four-floor flats in Sector B, Pocket1, the company has been given permission to construct multi-storied buildings or towers there.”
Sejwal countered, “The SFS flats were constructed in 1985 on the basis of FAR approved under the previous master plan. Under MPD 2021, FAR has increased and at least 10 complexes were built in Vasant Kunj with more than nine floors.”
Ranjan said that with no additional infrastructure planned, the existing 1,021 DDA flats with a population of nearly 5,000 would be burdened since they can only be accessed from a narrow 13m lane. Again, the housing project representative argued that DDA had clarified to MCD on the same concerns before sanctioning the plan.
“Since the layout for the whole pocket was prepared by DDA, it considered the whole pocket (four acres) as one plot surrounded by roads of 75m, 45m and 24m. The several group housing societies here are all connected by 13 internal roads. So why question this project?” asked the representative.
While MCD officials held that the project complied with norms, DDA refused a comment. BS Maan, an area resident and lawyer for the previous plot owner, stated that the matter had been under litigation for 30 years.
