Land Pooling Policy by DDA: Its pros & cons

Shama Parween

This article discusses the land pooling policy proposed by DDA, as a solution to cater the increasing housing demand in the national capital. This policy is mainly aimed for fallow lands along Delhi’s periphery, where land is developed as a joint venture between the private developers & land owners. This policy proposed as a replacement of land acquisition act has its own benefits over the earlier practiced land acquisition act & is more land owner friendly. In this article the pros & cons of Land Pooling Policy by DDA will be discussed in comparison with the land policies/models followed in different parts of country like Gujarat, Maharashtra & Haryana.

INTRODUCTION

The rapid economic growth & industrialization process has led to unprecedented urbanization of Indian cities which is further fuelled by globalization in the last few decades. According to the census of 2011, 27.82% 1of population resides in urban India. The process of urbanization is leading to a large amount of agricultural land being converted to urban land, mostly in the periphery of cities. It is seen that the government & local bodies are not able to fulfill increasing housing demand , resulting in unauthorized development, squatter settlements, which are haphazard developments in periurban areas.

“The sheer magnitude of urbanization & the limited government & private resources calls for devising an efficient urban land management system. Land is the most crucial input for housing & urban development programmes . The foundation of the programmes & the implementation process is highly dependent on larger availability of developed land at 1 Census of India ,2011

appropriate location & the potential for further development through extension of infrastructure.”2

The tools used by government to regulate supply of land were conversion of land use from agriculture to urban & provisions of infrastructure. But, the challenges were faced in supply of land at desired location & required time, with provision for infrastructure.

LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894

This act was amended by the government of India in 1984, where it was stipulated that the acquisition procedures would have to be completed & compensations paid within three years of preliminary notification. “The important provisions of the amendment were of balancing interests of community within the rights of power of acquisition in the case of urgency, enhancement of the rate of solatium & liability for enhanced compensation to all the land holders covered by the

2 Model guideline for urban land policy,2007

1

notification where one or more land holders are awarded excess amount.”3

But, because of appeals made my land owners in courts for increment of compensations & litigations, disbursement of compensations were delayed, resulting into large differences in the compensation & the trending market value of land4.

In 1894 amendment, a new technique was also introduced , which stated that if all persons party to land acquisition reach an agreement on the award , land acquisition collector may ,without making any further enquiry ,make an award without effecting the determination of compensation for land in the same locality or elsewhere. This method has been extensively used by Tamil Nadu hosing board & recently by Greater Noida Industrial authority.

LAND POOLING & LAND ADJUSTMENT SCHEMES

Under land pooling schemes, land owners or private developers , takes the initiative of development of certain pockets of land whereas in land adjustment scheme , local agencies mobilizes land through obligatory pooling by owner for the implementation of an urban development plan.

Land pooling scheme is a tool that allows land owners to share the gain in the land value post provision of infrastructure & services. In lieu, the land owner pays betterment charges & contributes part of their land to fund the infrastructure & development.

3 Model guideline for urban land policy,20074 The delay in payment of compensation stretched upto 15-20 years , resulting in large differences between the market price of land & the compensation paid which were set as per the market price 15-20 years back.

GUJARAT& MARASHTRA MODEL

The land pooling scheme was introduced for consolidation of land, to promote efficient, sustainable & equitable land development and also to achieve planned & sustainable growth through cooperative public participation. It is implemented under Maharashtra Regional & Town Planning Act, 1966 in Maharashtra & under Gujarat Town planning & Urban Development Act, 1976, in Gujarat.

These town planning schemes are prepared for small areas of about 100 hectares5. Government pools the land, uses 25-50% for roads, open space, other public purposes, including 5-10% for sale. The remaining 50-75% is returned to original owners, whose land value has increased. This model enables the ULB’s to develop land without fully acquiring & gives them a positive control over the design & duration of urban growth.

HARYANA MODEL

Under the Haryana Development & Regulation of Urban areas 1975, private developers are permitted to assemble lands from market through negotiation & develop these to build residential colonies. Private developers are allowed to negotiate on market price with the agricultural & other land owners to buy land. The developer is required to reserve 20% of housing for EWS & LIG , 25% can be sold in market on “ No Profit No Loss” basis , while the rest 55% can be sold freely in the open market6. The developer has to pay to HUDA, in proportion of its development cost for a colony, External development

5 The Gujarat Land Pooling Scheme, CTP Gujarat6 Urban Estates Department Notification, Haryana Government

2

charges for getting connected to the HUDA’s trunk lines of utilities & Infrastructure Development Charge for city wide infrastructure development. The land owners whose land is acquired for the development of residential sectors will have the option either to accept the compensation in monetary terms as available under the Land Acquisition Act along with non statutory benefits under R & R policy7 or to seek the compensation in the form of developed plots as full and final settlement.

DELHI MODEL

The land development &disposal in Delhi is the responsibility of DDA, constituted under DDA Act 1957. The land & building department of Delhi government acquires land for DDA. It is the responsibility of DDA to undertake the process of development for various purposes such as Commercial, Institutional, residential etc.

The land policy of Delhi came into force with MPD-1962. The land policy aimed to check the speculation, stabilize land value, prevent concentration of urban land & ensure adequate supply of land for urban development. It targeted to acquiring 55,000 hectares of land for the plan period 1962-1982, but only about 25,211 hectares of land was acquired. During 1980-2001, only 9507 hectares was acquired against the planned acquisition of 24000 hectares.

These trends in land acquisition & development clearly show that DDA is not able to fulfill the demand for land, leading to formation of unauthorized colonies & squatter settlements in Delhi. Hence to

7 National rehabilitation & resettlement policy,2007

overcome the shortage in supply of land Land Pooling policy was introduced in MPD -2021.

Under this policy, landowners can surrender their land holding into a central pool and become stakeholders in the development proposed on their land. Once the land is pooled, the landowner would get 40-60 per cent of the total land surrendered as developable land. The dispute over undervaluation of land for acquisition would be removed, and the process would seem fair to every landowner, irrespective of the size of their holding. The 40-60 per cent of the land that DDA would retain would be utilized to create infrastructure as well as to monetize it for specific purposes.Two basic types of land pooling have been announced so far8.

0.2 sq km and above, where 60 per cent of the land would be returned to the landowner.

0.02–0.2 sq km, where 48 per cent of land would be returned to the landowner

Conclusion

The process of land pooling has been a “win-win” proposition for both the landowners and the planning agencies—both gain from the appreciation in the land values.

In Delhi model the development proposals are time bound unlike Gujarat model in which the timeline proposed in regulatory framework is 4 years which is quite lengthy. The left out land pockets of land will be acquired by DDA, whenever the persons are not coming forward to participate in development through land pooling which unlike Gujarat model is not acquired forcefully by the planning body.8 MPD-2021

3

In Haryana model the provision of infrastructure is limited to the layout level & does not take into account the master plan / zonal level facilities whereas in Delhi & Gujarat model , layout/ detailed plans are prepared as per the provision of master plan & the policy.

4