The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has proposed a reduction in the size of Delhi-NCR from the current 55,000 sq km to 35,000-45,000 sq km to manage the area better and to protect land owned by farmers.
City planners from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi are deliberating two options – the first being 35,483 sq km and the second comprising 45,583 sq km, sources said.
The NCR is presently spread over a 55,083 sq km area.
"We have two options. The first option is for a 100 km around Delhi with major transit corridors contiguous to that being part of it. That is a more compact area. This is expected to be around 35,000 sq km. The second option is to have 200 km and is expected to be around 45,000 sq km," NCR Planning Board member secretary Archana Agrawal said at the stakeholder conference on Delineation of NCR held on January 17.
"If we go by the first option, more then 22,000 sq mt will be lost from more than three states and in the second option a full tehsil will be out," she said.
The need to reduce the area was felt to manage the region better. "We need a manageable area as we plan to move towards more developed and smart cities where you can not only manage the population but also the development and land acquisitions. So, the decision to shrink the NCR area is only for the betterment of the region," she added.
"We wanted to get all the stakeholders here for this. There is also the issue of the rapid urbanisation which is disturbing farmer-owned land. There was a thought in the last meeting to discuss how much farmers land should be acquired," she said.
"All in all, the size of NCR will be less than the current area, but both options may definitely have an addition of about 3,000 sq km. In the first option, you may have an addition of 2,600 sq km and in the second option you may have an addition of 3,300 sq km because of the rational way of doing it," she said.
Among other recommendations presented at the conference, there may be a reduction of 9,327 sq km and 3,927 sq km from Haryana and 10,947 sq km and 6,747 sq km from Rajasthan. As per the recommendations, no area from Delhi may be reduced. As per both the options proposed, the area for Uttar Pradesh may increase by 374 sq km and 1,174 sq km.
The NCR Regional Plan for 2041 is likely to be ready within two years and would focus on how to make cities citizen-centric, improve livability, environmental sustainability and disaster resilience, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra had said in November 2019. He was speaking at the conclave on the National Capital Region -2041, organised by the NCRPB.
"I am hopeful that the NCR 2041 Masterplan would be ready by 2021. The focus over the past few years has been on urbanisation," he stated.
"The plan would have to be citizen-centric and would have to look at improving livelihoods, it would have to focus on sustainability, improving air quality index, and tackle issues such as flooding, preserve the biodiversity, culture and heritage of the areas. The plan would have to focus on harmonious development of the entire region whose population is almost equal to that of France or Italy," he added.
He had said that the Regional Plan would have a major impact on the entire region as it would drive and decide the magnitude/direction in which the development will take place in the region.
The 2041 regional plan should focus on improving livability, economic ability, sustainability, try and make the National Conservation Zone more effective, look at ways to integrate rural and urban, utilise opportunities provided by the Transit Oriented Development policy and redevelopment, Mishra said.
The Regional Plan with the horizon year 2021 was notified on the 17th of September 2005 and is presently in force. A Regional Plan with the next horizon year 2041 is now required to be prepared.
The Regional Plan addresses various sectors namely transport, water, sewerage, solid waste, power, regional land use, etc. As per a report by United Nations, Delhi is slated to become the world's largest metropolis overtaking Tokyo by 2028.
The NCR is a federal setup having the National Capital Territory of Delhi as its core. It covers around 55,083 sq km of the area with around 60 million population.
Haryana sub-region comprises of districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Rohtak, Sonepat, Rewari, Jhajjar, Mewat, Palwal, Panipat, Mahendregarh, Jind, Karnal, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri. Rajasthan sub-region comprises of districts of Alwar and Bharatpur.
Uttar Pradesh Sub-region comprises of districts of Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Bulandsahr, Baghpat, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, and Shamli.
NCRPB was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1985, as a statutory body under the ministry of housing and urban affairs for the development of the entire region and was tasked to evolve harmonised policies for the control of land-uses and development of infrastructure in the region.
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