Tenders for 2 shopping malls on 47 acres near The
Grand, Vasant Kunj are to be opened next month
according to a ToI report today. See:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=241681&Curpg=1
This is illegal.
If proposed "Vasant Vihar Phase II", of which these
malls are reportedly part, is residential, commercial
facilities in it have to be developed on basis of
Master Plan standards for convenient, local and
community centre shopping, including for hawkers,
low-turnover shops and work places for villages. If
they are part of some other "project" (of 'two
shopping malls, a departmental store, a crafts bazaar
and an entertainment complex besides a multi-level
parking' as per the report), due process including
Public Notice is needed for land use change.
Since DJB is able to supply to the area only 1.3 MGD
river water against estimated demand of about 10 MGD
and Sonia Vihar and rainwater cannot augment enough
even for the current gap, these malls and more would
also be illegal under CGWA notification banning ground
water withdrawal.
Since villages and old bastis were meant to be but
were not integrated into the Vasant Kunj scheme, and
service providers were meant to be but not provided
for in residential and commercial development in it,
priority to malls with no basis in the Plan over
backlog on these Plan tasks in use of public land
compulsorily acquired only for development according
to Plan is not justifiable.
All the above issues are pending in court cases or
Public Notice process.
I have written to Secretary MoUD and Vice Chairman DDA
to ask for the tender to be stopped till legal basis
of the project is clarified, to CGWA to ask it to
ensure tender advertisements clearly specify that
boring is banned and buyers will have to wait for
water from Sonia Vihar, and to DJB to ask if and how
Sonia Vihar will provide limitless water. I have also
written to Civil Aviation Ministry to point out that,
like the unplanned development that led to breach of
Mahipalpur Bundh in July, these malls are also to the
north of the Bundh and, being on the Technical
Committee to assist the high level policy committee
for making guidelines for sanctioning layouts, it
might like to think, if it must and if its corporate
and NGO advisers will let it, about commercial
utilization of the site of non-functional Safdarjang
Airport in terms of shifting to it all the unplanned
profitable development proposed here since the
drainage disruptions it is likely to cause may well
create flooding risk for the functional IGIA Airport.
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Grand, Vasant Kunj are to be opened next month
according to a ToI report today. See:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=241681&Curpg=1
This is illegal.
If proposed "Vasant Vihar Phase II", of which these
malls are reportedly part, is residential, commercial
facilities in it have to be developed on basis of
Master Plan standards for convenient, local and
community centre shopping, including for hawkers,
low-turnover shops and work places for villages. If
they are part of some other "project" (of 'two
shopping malls, a departmental store, a crafts bazaar
and an entertainment complex besides a multi-level
parking' as per the report), due process including
Public Notice is needed for land use change.
Since DJB is able to supply to the area only 1.3 MGD
river water against estimated demand of about 10 MGD
and Sonia Vihar and rainwater cannot augment enough
even for the current gap, these malls and more would
also be illegal under CGWA notification banning ground
water withdrawal.
Since villages and old bastis were meant to be but
were not integrated into the Vasant Kunj scheme, and
service providers were meant to be but not provided
for in residential and commercial development in it,
priority to malls with no basis in the Plan over
backlog on these Plan tasks in use of public land
compulsorily acquired only for development according
to Plan is not justifiable.
All the above issues are pending in court cases or
Public Notice process.
I have written to Secretary MoUD and Vice Chairman DDA
to ask for the tender to be stopped till legal basis
of the project is clarified, to CGWA to ask it to
ensure tender advertisements clearly specify that
boring is banned and buyers will have to wait for
water from Sonia Vihar, and to DJB to ask if and how
Sonia Vihar will provide limitless water. I have also
written to Civil Aviation Ministry to point out that,
like the unplanned development that led to breach of
Mahipalpur Bundh in July, these malls are also to the
north of the Bundh and, being on the Technical
Committee to assist the high level policy committee
for making guidelines for sanctioning layouts, it
might like to think, if it must and if its corporate
and NGO advisers will let it, about commercial
utilization of the site of non-functional Safdarjang
Airport in terms of shifting to it all the unplanned
profitable development proposed here since the
drainage disruptions it is likely to cause may well
create flooding risk for the functional IGIA Airport.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
http://shopping.yahoo.com