Get private companies for transit oriented projects: L-G

To expedite the work on the transit-oriented development (TOD) projects, Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna on Thursday suggested that private developers be involved for the work.

The projects, which aim to restructure the city based on public transit systems, will be taken up soon — five corridors have already been identified.

The five corridors are: Chhattarpur Metro station to Arjangarh Metro station, Peeragarhi Metro station to Tikri Kalan Metro station, Dwarka More Metro station to Dwarka Sector-21 Metro station and Nehru Place Metro station to Badarpur station, including the Karkardooma pilot project.

"Private developers should be invited to develop these areas, based on the TOD concept, since the corridors have already been demarcated. In fact, professionals have to own up to TOD redevelopment. Also, private developers should take up redevelopment of unplanned colonies, which do not have space to build schools and dispensaries. Re-planning and retrofitting needs to be done in such areas. Their involvement is also needed in taking up redevelopment of unsafe houses in areas like Shahadara. IIT-Roorkee has said 70 per cent of houses in East Delhi are unsafe,'' Khanna said.

According to DDA officials, private developers like DLF has shown interest in TOD. They said the project is likely to increase property prices along public transport corridors. "Several developers have already shown interest with the proposal moving forward,'' a DDA official said.

"I agree that there is no space for pedestrians in the city. All streets and flyovers are made for commuters. We need to go for greater micro-planning and redevelopment with emphasis on mixed land use. We need to develop transport hubs where people can live, work and shop and use the transport for traveling around the city,'' Khanna said.

The draft TOD policy, guidelines and influence zones have also been put in public domain and a series of 25 workshops are going to take place from March to April to discuss the policy before it is finalised and approved. A maximum of up to 2,000-metre-wide belt on both side of central line of the major public transport corridor will be designated as influence zone. The entire influence zone shall be designated as white zone.

... contd.

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