Letter to DDA Commissioner Planning (31/01/2005)

Mr AK Jain
 Commissioner Planning (DDA)

Sub: “Sun-City Mall” on Vasant Kunj Community Centre site: Request for clarification

Dear Mr Jain,

On site for Community Centre in Masudpur in Vasant Kunj have sprung up boards and site-office of “Sun City Mall”, staff of whose promoters claim possession of the entire site. As you are aware, Delhi Master Plan contemplates Community-Centre as nodal commercial facility for local benefit of the community (defined as 1 lakh population) and required to have, among other uses, 475 shops, including 110 informal and 70 low turnover shops. This “Sun-City Mall” is, therefore, illegal.

You might be aware area residents from flats, villages and bastis and traders have been seeking since 2001 shifting to the site enterprises that have sprung up around it, numbering about 400-500 – through letters, in responses to Public Notices (last for commercial complex in historic Mahipalpur Hauz), WP 8523/2003 (awaiting replies on notice of 22.09.2004), in WP 6980/2002 (awaiting your reply to enclosed letter of 21.01.2005), in memoranda to Standing Parliamentary Committee (on which we have been assured on 05.01.2005 that we will be heard), in our representations leading to CVC reference of 10.09.2004.

And you might also be aware that it was on this site, precisely where a “site-office” is now selling Mall space, that a genuine bhagidaari effort by flat residents and hawkers led to shifting in October 2001 of problematic vegetable market from the road outside – a transparent interim arrangement following DDA’s assurance of June 2001 on our report (reiterated in its letter to PMO and in January 2003 in its counter-affidavit and at hearing of Sultangarhi Public Notice) that was violently demolished (after which illegal tehbazaris were issued to others outside and “bhagidaari” prize given to adjoining illegal builder market). All this is mentioned in the pleadings in WP 6980/2002, with pictures. Even before that the site (then proposed to be given away for some “cyber center”) featured in a slogan of our demonstration of 2001, which we enclose also since it raised already the doubts about this Plan revision that we believe this Mall graphically confirms.

We seek now:

  1. (in view of matters mentioned above) details of the basis for allotment of our Community-Centre site for Mall; and
  2. (after demolition of 50-year old shops to clear bottleneck at Naraina on Ring Road) assurance that for any bottle-neck clearing at Masudpur this Mall, not old shops, will be demolished.

Yours sincerely

Gita Dewan Verma

MPISG Planner

cc:

  • Chairman DUAC (wrt letters since 2001 about the site, with request for details of DUAC clearance)
  • LG / DDA Chairman, Secretary CVC, Adviser (UD) PC (for information wrt letter of 21.01.05)