A senior DDA official said a public hearing will be held in this regard before finalising the change in land use.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has received nearly 400 objections to the proposed change of land use for 101 acres in central Delhi for the Centre’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project. 

The objections range from questioning the need for the project to its impact on environment and traffic123. Some also stressed on the need to protect heritage and demanded a proper assessment before going ahead with the plan.

A senior DDA official said a public hearing will be held in this regard before finalising the change in land use. “We have received nearly 400 suggestions/objections regarding the land use change, but close to 80% are repetitions. A majority of it stresses on the burden on public facilities due to the land use change. These issues will be addressed in the board of inquiry (public hearing),” senior DDA official, aware of the development, said.

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  • 1. LokPATH (people for Appropriate Transformation of Habitat), a collective of urban development experts, which was formed recently, has flagged the lack of transparency in the process of land use change. 
  • 2. The Indian Society of Landscape Architects (ISOLA) has called the project an “inappropriate planning decision”. “The proposed reduction of as much as 80 acres of area available both directly and indirectly to the general public, transport and parking etc. in this area is an inappropriate planning decision…It seems likely that the majestic trees on these 80 acres will be lost as part of the redevelopment proposal. Compensatory planting will not provide a suitable alternative here,” Sujata Kohli, honorary president, ISOLA, wrote. 
  • 3. Objecting to the land use change, members of Save Our city campaign wrote, “As per the National Capital Region plan, no new central government and public sector undertaking offices should be located in the national capital. The DDA, as per its Act, is under the obligation to conduct a civic survey…It (DDA) is in the habit of changing the MPD in violation of all laws of the land and is hell-bent on killing the capital city.”