Productive Usage of Vacant Plots
Sanjeev Goyal
No. SKG/RS/36 09-Jun-2021
The councils of State,
Rajya Sabha,
New Delhi-110001.
The petition of S K Goyal, D-103 Shivam Apartments, Sector-12/14, Dwarka, New Delhi-110078.
Sheweth: Brief… – Productive Usage of Vacant Plots
Sir,
As a process of urbanization picking up throughout the country more & more rural areas are taken over by civic bodies for city expansion. Such areas have different land use categories earmarked like human habitation, commercial, industrial, institutional etc. The master plan of the impacted area is prepared in advance even before actual land transfers from farmers take place. The planning & implementation of the master plan of the area is generally a long-drawn process executed in a phased manner. A lot of plots earmarked for commercial and industrial usage are kept on hold and are auctioned slowly depending upon the optimum combination of the market forces of demand & supply. The civic bodies driven by commercial considerations schedule the auction year after year in a slow and steady manner to fetch maximum money. For instance, Dwarka a sub-city in Delhi was planned three decades ago and still a lot of commercial space is lying vacant and waiting for the auction to happen. The DDA has also strategically put the auction on hold and waiting for a ‘good opportunity to sell the plots to private parties, till then these plots remain vacant like waste-land.
As the plots are vacant it is natural for plants & trees to grow. As per present law, it is difficult for grown trees to be axed and there is a very cumbersome and lengthy procedure that even Government agencies want to avoid. So, to keep these commercial plots ‘viable’ the civic agency keeps on clearing the vegetation growth on these vacant plots regularly so that trees do not grow.
In Dwarka itself, several plots are lying vacant for the past 3 decades only waiting for an auction to happen. Given the damp sentiments due to KOVID, it may take a further long time before these plots are disposed off. The point is, given the extreme deterioration of the environment why not utilize the potential of these plots for greenery purposes till these are auctioned? Not only commercial plots, but in every area, there is good number of vacant residential plots also where money has been invested in the expectation of growth by private parties and stay is not the purpose. Such plots are also maintained ‘vacant’ free from any trees so that there is no complexity later on.
The concern is the complex & stringent framework of regulations that prohibit cutting of grown trees. Given the scale of the whole country, this ‘potential’ loss of greenery is huge. Any change in policy framework where the civic bodies may cultivate trees and are allowed to cut them off before putting the land to some other usage will transform the way we manage our vacant land pieces.
There are several species which, by definition, are not treated as tree-like poplar, eucalyptus, guava, bamboo, mahaneem etc. These are categorized as a crop that farmers are entitled to harvest without any bearing on the tree-cutting regulations. So, as a policy matter, if all the civic bodies in the country are directed to sow such trees covered within the definition of the crop, on the plots under their jurisdiction, a lot of new green areas can emerge in the heart of the city. At the start date of ‘actual’ development axing such a ‘crop’ would provide a supply of wood and generate additional revenue to the owner agency.
Keeping such vast land chunks vacant serves no purpose when productive usage is possible.
And accordingly, your petitioner prays that - concept may be brainstormed by the Government think tank and appropriate legislation may be passed for implementation.
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Name of Petitioner |
Address |
Signature |
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S K Goyal, |
D-103 Shivam Apartment, Sector-12/14, Dwarka, New Delhi-110078. |
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Counter-signature of Member presenting
Address: Secretary General, Rajya Sabha, Parliament House/Annexe, Delhi- 110001. secyg...@nic.in