The Role of Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi

It’s ironical but true that unauthorised colonies are a boon for the citizens of Delhi. These colonies have checked black marketing of land by allowing only the real needy people to construct houses therein. Many put up an argument that DDA’s control over the land has created an artificial scarcity leading to high land prices, but actually the reverse may be true. A small digression on land laws and land market in Delhi is necessary to substantiate my point.

Land Market of Delhi

In Delhi, most of the development of residential land is controlled by DDA. In other words, all residential land in Delhi is owned by DDA unless it decides to convey the land to the lessees by making it freehold. Some land is also handed over to MCD for development of low income housing.  It is an undisputed fact that DDA has failed in developing enough land in Delhi leading to two ramifications. First, the price of land in developed colonies has sky rocketed, and secondly large number of unauthorized colonies have sprung up. These colonies have not been developed by DDA or any other authorised agency and are thus called unauthorized.

However, the word ‘unauthorized’ has nothing to do with the ownership of land.   If there were a mechanism for identification and transfer of small pieces of agricultural land (which, obviously, can be put to residential use only), the ownership of individual residents on these plots would have also been completed. Though the constructions would have still remained unauthorized but not, in any way, different from an unauthorized fourth floor in an authorized DDA colony. In other words, if the change in landuse by de-facto construction of residential units in an agricutural landuse is presumed, there is no legal difference between authorized and unauthorized colonies. However, this doesn’t mean the quality of development is same. Let us see how unauthorized colonies have developed in Delhi.

The Development of Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi

In Delhi, the owners of agricultural land prepared haphazard site plans with characteristic over-utilization of land for residential and mixed land use, while neglecting the necesarry dedication to public use.  And thus they sold the so-demarcated plots to bonafide purchasers as unauthorized developers. The registrar failed to register such transfers, for being unable to identify the transferred land. As a result, a person buying a plot of land in such unauthorized developments was left with no recourse in a court of law, forcing him to always physically possess his property. The courts recognize neither the haphazard site plans prepared by unauthorized developers nor the unregistered transfer documents. However, the courts do recognize bonafide possession.

In other words, the small plots in unauthorized colonies could only be utilized by those who actually lived therein. This checked black marketing as the retention of unutilized land for speculative purposes carried high risk, not only legally but also practically as no speculator would like to employ disproportianate resources for keeping a constant vigil on his legally unidentifiable plot of land. This is what has been a boon for the citizens of Delhi. The resourceful citizens of Delhi were thus able to find affordable land and make their modest houses therein.

The vote bank politics also ensured the provisioning of basic amenities in good time. Of course, these basic amenities only included paani, bijli and sadak; not parks, shopping centres, community hall, etc. It is correct that, with the provisioning of basic amenities, the land prices in these unauthorized colonies also sky-rocketed; with speculative profit-making by all kinds of builders, politicians and land mafia; but the initial development benefited the bonafide residents.

Home Minister on Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi

The home minister is obviously misinformed: unauthorised colonies in Delhi are a boon for the bonafide residents, not criminals. If ninty-five percent of Delhi live in slums and unauthorised colonies, no less than ninty-five percent of crimes should also originate therein. The home minister need not have retracted his statement of fact; but no smart person, unless an evil genius, would make it at the first place.

©2010 Ankur Mutreja