BJP MPs Manoj Tiwari and Ramvir Singh Bidhuri on Monday met Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and urged him to remove the Yamuna O-Zone classification from 92 colonies and several ancient villages, claiming nearly 15 lakh residents continued to face uncertainty due to the tag.
In a memorandum submitted to the Lieutenant Governor, the MPs said the colonies and village abadis had been regularised in 2008 when they fell under the F-Zone. However, these were brought under the Yamuna O-Zone in 2010, triggering objections from residents.
The BJP leaders said the Delhi Development Authority had issued a draft notification in September 2013 proposing the removal of these areas from the O-Zone, but the process was stalled after the National Green Tribunal stayed it following a petition by a non-government organisation.
According to the memorandum, the petition was disposed of in January 2015, but a final decision on the status of the colonies and villages is yet to be taken. The MPs argued that previous senior officials, including a former Lieutenant Governor and a former DDA Vice-Chairman, had acknowledged that the village abadi areas were residential in nature and should not have been classified under the O-Zone.
They further said a Delhi Police report and the findings of a Central Government expert committee had concluded that the colonies were located far from the Yamuna and did not adversely affect the river’s flow or water quality.
Tiwari and Bidhuri requested the Lieutenant Governor to issue the pending 2013 notification removing the colonies and villages from the O-Zone, contending that no matter relating to them was currently pending before the NGT.
The MPs said such a decision would provide long-awaited relief to nearly 15 lakh residents who continued to face the possibility of demolition and enforcement action despite their colonies having been regularised nearly two decades ago.
