The Delhi Masterplan is a document, that is prepared by the Delhi Development Authority, and that plans for the city 20 years ahead. The first and second masterplans of Delhi came out in 1962 and 1982 respectively. The third plan is yet to be declared.

One of the mandates of the Hazards Centre has been to undertake a detailed analysis of the Masterplans from the point of view of the majority. In 1999 the center organized the first convention on Electricity, Water, Sewage and Housing in Delhi – ‘An Alternative Plan’ under the banner of Sajha Manch. This was in backdrop of the a number of anti-poor court judgments on petitions made in ‘public interest’ such as those about closure of industries and removal of unathorised colonies, affecting at large almost two-thirds of the total population of the city. In all such cases, common people were being made to indirectly pay for the ‘illegal’ activities of industrialists, mafias, politicians, and officials. These people were not being given a fair hearing in any of such cases, and the Courts were basing their orders on what is ‘authorised’ under the Master Plans of Delhi.

The idea of this convention and many more that followed later, has been to challenge the basis of the Master Plan itself. Hazards Centre concedes that voice of the majority should be represented in formulation of different plans for Delhi . A number of questions are asked as to who is doing the planning, for whom, what are the norms of planning, and what are the notions that planners have about how people actually live in the city.

Thus, the center, along with a coalition of environment and citizen's groups bases its work on critiquing the Masterplans, demanding a different kind of planning that meets the real needs of the vast majority of the population.

campaign around the draft third masterplan of delhi

In April 2005 the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officially released the third (draft) Masterplan of Delhi 2021. As per rules of the DDA act, the draft Masterplan is a public document that needs to be disseminated to and deliberated by the aam junta, so as it falls in tune with their aspirations for their city. In practice however, only a handful of citizens know about the plan, owing to its low-key circulation. This limited reach notwithstanding, DDA gave the junta a 90-day period to file their comments on its contents, from April 8 – July 7.

public meetings: disseminating contents and critique of the document

During this period, Hazards Centre undertook an in-depth critique of the plan from the vantage point of the urban poor. The analysis of the plan was disseminated across groups wide-ranging groups in the city including over 50 urban poor communities and groups including resettlement colonies, rag pickers, homeless persons, street children, disabled groups etc, planning experts (including DDA) and legislators, through public meetings. The objective being to highlight the emergent contradictions and aberrations in the document, its overriding focus on constructing a world class city and subsumed anti poor discourse, huge gaps in projected targets and actual delineation of space/resources, excessive emphasis on privatization/commercialization in all key sectors and so on...

Summary of the critique

Blueprint of an Aparthied City : Detailed critique on the Draft Masterplan 2021

public seminars

To disseminate analysis on the plan in the public domain and galvanize resistance for it, Hazards Centre also organized two seminars at Constitution Club, VP House, Delhi .

July 6, 2006

June 30, 2005 – Eminent resource persons, representatives of groups came together in this seminar to make public their preliminary objections on the plan and how they could together create a public discourse on these concerns. A detailed schedule of public meetings across the city was prepared and future course of action was outlined.

July 6, 2005­ – This seminar was organized to consolidate objections on the plan that have been filed by different stakeholders. The book Aparthied City was also released.

press conferences

As part of both the seminars, press conferences were organized to inform the media about the draft masterplan and our issues with the same. As a result, a number of news reportscame in print highlighting alternate perspectives on the plan.

filing objections

As a result of these extensive meetings, several groups in the city, including ragpickers, shelterless, slum dwellers and disabled etc filed more than 20,000 objectionsto the DDA on all pertinent issues of concern including housing, basic services and environment.

no response to objections

Till three months after the filing of the objections, DDA did not give any public response as to whether and how these objections are being utilized in ongoing deliberations towards plan finalisation.

Furthermore, as per procedure the DDA was supposed to constitute a committee to review all such objections in the process of finalizing plan. This committee was constituted, but comprised only DDA officials.

This seriously undermined the issue of public participation, as even mandated by the 74 th amendment. Three MPs from Delhi, namely Sandeep Dikshit, Kapil Sibal and Ajay Maken, and Former Prime Minister, Mr V P Singh filed objections on the nature and functioning of this committee, demanding inclusion of public representatives and independent experts. Even to these submissions, the DDA did not give any public response.

The manner of indifference and ad-hocism that this ‘supreme’ planning body of our city displayed in almost disregarding the concerted inputs of a large number of citizens, demanded a strong mass protest, which took the shape of a dharna in oct 6, exactly three months after the last date of filing of objections.

dharna against the DDA

Almost 3000 ‘ordinary’ people from across parts of Delhi joined joining this protest outside the DDA office demanding accountability for its non-actions. They raised slogans, held placards and banners, performed songs and street theatre. As a result of the day-long dharna, the DDA officials came out to speak to the people. A delegation of Sajha Manch representatives also met with the Vice-Chairman, DDA to inform them of the grounds for the dharns and the demands contained there in.

follow up of dharna

Following the dharna, the DDA senior planning officials met up with representatives of different organization and heard out their concerns on the masterplan. Half-day presentation session was followed by discussion