Farmhouse regularization scrapped

Delhi/NCR
The three municipal corporations have decided to discontinue the process of regularization of farmhouses in Delhi following orders from the Union urban development ministry. Sources said the ministry is reviewing the Master Plan of Delhi 2007 and is likely to make necessary changes in the farmhouse regularization policy.

“We will start the regularization process only after a policy is notified by the government. The Delhi Development Authority has proposed several amendments in the policy and the ministry is reviewing it,” said a South Corporation official.

There are close to 3,500 farmhouses in the city of which 2,500 fall under South Corporation’s jurisdiction. But the civic agency was not able to regularize a majority of farmhouses following objections from owners, in addition to technical problems. So far, the corporations have regularized just 300 farmhouses. Officials said not many people have applied for regularization as the penalty and conversion charges run into crores of rupees.

The civic agencies had introduced an amnesty scheme to regularize farmhouses in September 2013. The scheme was to end on September 30, but the urban development ministry extended it till December 31. “DDA had suggested changes in the policy after requests from farmhouse owners. Some technical issues also had to be settled. The revised master plan will take care of all the problems and regularization process will start after it is notified,” said an official.

Farmhouse owners said due to stringent clauses and exorbitant conversion rates most people were unable to avail the benefits of the amnesty scheme. They added that several lacunae exist in the policy. Though the policy was notified in 2013, it allows regularization of construction till February 2007. The conversion cost is another issue as for any construction on the land owners have to pay a minimum of Rs 63 lakh per hectare.

At a time when BJP is pushing for extending the regularization date for unauthorized colonies from February 2007 to 2014, farmhouse owners want the same rule to be applied in their case. They also want conversion charges to be reduced.

Source:http://content.magicbricks.com/industry-news/delhi-ncr-real-estate-news/farmhouse-regularization-scrapped/78609.html