To address the growing problems of pollution, congestion and shortage of housing stock for the poor and middle class in Delhi, Dwarka Sector 21 Metro Station, Rohini Sector 18 Metro Station. Mayur Vihar Extension Metro Station, Mukundpur Metro Station, Sarojini Nagar and INA Metro Stations (combined) will be developed as pilot projects on the basis of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy.
Following the directions of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has sought comments on the proposed amendment in the Master Plan for Delhi 2021 incorporating several provisions on TOD policy.
TOD integrates land use and transport planning and aims to develop planned sustainable urban growth centers, having walkable and livable communes with high density mixed land-use.
TOD provides all the basic needs of work/ job, shopping, public amenities, entertainment in the influence zone with mixed land-use development which would reduce the need for travel.
According to MoHUA sources, such transit nodes shall be along Metro Rail, Railway, RRTS or any public transit systems (e.g. bus rapid systems in the future) having the capacity to carry more than 10,000 peak hour per direction traffic (PHPDT). The DDA had initially approved two TOD projects at Karkardooma (spread over 30 hectares) and near Sanjay Lake (spread over 10.26 hectares) in 2014 and 2015 respectively. It had tasked the National Buildings Construction Company (NBCC) for the implementation of two projects.
As per proposed amendments, TOD schemes of area lesser than 1 Hectare but no less than 3000 sq. m. (contiguous) may be accepted only for land parcels. “All bus depots, terminals within Influence Zone of Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) corridors excluding in Zone-’O’ to be developed as per TOD norms except for those corridors lying within Low Density Residential Area (LDRA) of Urban Extension. ISBTs within Influence Zone of MRTS corridors to be developed per TOD norms except for those corridors lying within Low Density Residential Area (LDRA) of Urban Extension,” it said.
The amendments propose the permissible Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for TOD Schemes will be in a range of 300-500. The minimum FAR of 300 has to be achieved for development as per TOD norms. FAR for each plot in a TOD Scheme will be 1.5 times the initially allocated FAR, up to a maximum of 500. In case the permissible FAR for a plot works out to be lesser than 300, the same will be increased to the minimum threshold of 300.
The TOD policy, which is aimed at sustainable development around rapid transit facilities such as Metro, was notified in July 2015. It couldn’t be implemented due to objections from the public against DDA regulations issued in 2016. In March 2017, the Union housing and urban affairs ministry had directed DDA to review the policy. The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), which was asked to review the TOD policy, has already submitted its recommendations to the land-owning agency.
Setting up a nodal agency to monitor the implementation of TOD; allowing TOD implementation only on high footfall nodes (Metro stations) and defining the type of development along nodes are some of the changes recommended by the NIUA.
“This is a critical paradigm shift that can potentially improve public transit ridership, reduce vehicular congestion, and reduce greenhouse emissions and pollution in the long term,” officials said.
