Land pooling policy set to be cleared by May: CM Kejriwal

New Delhi: In a move that is set to expand the urban limits of the national capital, the Delhi government is expected to clear the long pending land pooling policy by next month. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday assured the Federation of Housing Societies and Developers in Delhi and the Delhi Dehat Kisan Morcha that his government would clear the Land Pooling Policy by May 7. The policy has been stuck since 2015 due to teething issues after being cleared by the Ministry of Urban Development.

 “We told the Delhi chief minister that the delay on part of the Delhi government in declaring 89 villages as urban villages and 95 villages as development areas is delaying the development of Delhi. This policy would not only provide affordable housing to lakhs of people, who have already invested over Rs 35, 000 crore by purchasing land, but also give boost to social and economic infrastructure of Delhi,” secretary of the federation, Satish Kumar Agarwal said.

“We told Mr. Kejriwal how the delay in approval to LPP was hurting interests of farmers as they are forced to sell land cheap due to lower circle rates. Once the LPP is cleared, circle rates will go up which will help farmers to sell their land at higher rates. It will also help the Delhi government to earn more revenue due to increase in circle rates,” Mr Agarwal added.

Urging Mr Kejriwal to put the issue as a priority subject, Mr Agarwal said, “We were able to convince the CM after which he assured us that he would clear the LPP by May 7, 2017.”