With the Centre going ahead with its ambitious project to redevelop the Central Vista, residents of Babar Road, Sundar Nagar, Golf Links and five other residential neighbourhoods in Lutyens’ Delhi want the government to allow redevelopment in their areas as well.

They want the Centre to notify the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone (LBZ) guidelines, prepared by the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) in 2015 so that they can avail higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR, a measure of the developed area that can be built on a plot of land) and redevelop their properties.

In 2015, the DUAC proposed changing building guidelines in LBZ, shrinking the tony area by 5 sq km to 23 sq km, and excluding eight neighbourhoods — Bengali Market, Golf Links, Sundar Nagar, parts of Jor Bagh, Mandir Marg, Chanakyapuri, Sardar Patel Marg and Panchsheel Marg. 

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Sanjeev Desai, former vice-president and member of Sundar Nagar association, said, “Nearly 70% of properties are unable to redevelop due to lack of clarity on the matter. The central government is redeveloping Central Vista as it is looking into its future requirement for offices. Similarly, we should be out of LBZ in order to redevelop our houses for future generations. Under the present LBZ norms, most houses can’t redevelop as the current FAR is very less.”