The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), in its meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who is also its chairman, on Wednesday took major decisions, including approval of annual budget 2023-24, with focus on civic infrastructure of the national capital, particularly Narela, Dwarka and Rohini.

The budget has special emphasis on UER II, rejuvenation and restoration of Yamuna floodplains and green spaces.

The authority also approved pre-determined rates for Rohini, Phase IV and V, Tikri Kalan and Narela for financial year 2022-23 and permitted land use change for improving the public transport system in Delhi. It approved the annual budget for 2023-24 with an outlay of Rs 7,643 crore and receipts projected at Rs 8,541 crore.

A total allocation of Rs 3,314 crore has been made for the development of land, physical infrastructure and maintenance of existing infrastructure that includes roads, sewage, water supply, power lines and drainage in development areas falling under the jurisdiction of DDA.

These areas are primarily in Narela, Dwarka and Rohini. The DDA has also planned for extensive development of the Yamuna riverfront.

Construction of Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) as the third ring road of Delhi is in progress through NHAI. For this project, Rs 3600 crore will be funded by DDA out of the total project cost of Rs 6421 crore (for Delhi portion).  The project will have a great impact on decongestion of Delhi and thereby reducing vehicular pollution and will serve the land pooling areas of Delhi apart from being an arterial connectivity to Rohini and Narela. It will also allow traffic moving between Gurugram and Sonepat to by-pass Central Delhi.

This will also lead to faster access to the airport. It will act as an additional Western Ring Road in Delhi thereby decongesting the road network between Mukarba Chowk to Singhu Border.

The DDA has planned construction of Trunk Drain of about 7.2 Kms length, costing Rs 293.21 crore to prevent water logging in DDA’s developed sectors 20, 21 & 22, vacant land of undeveloped Sectors 39, 40 & 41 of Rohini and adjoining 106 unauthorized colonies in Kirari assembly constituency.

A provision of Rs 100 crore in BE 2023-24 has been kept for this purpose.

Construction of Storm Water Drain at Sector-8, Dwarka is in progress. This drain will cater to the excess discharge of rain water from the Airport and prevent flooding in Dwarka Sector – 8, Rajnagar, Baghdola and Palam area. The water, so discharged, will be stored by constructing water bodies, recharge pits and water retention bodies in the parks of Sector 8 & Sector 23 Dwarka to help recharge the depleting water levels of the area. For this purpose, a provision of Rs 30 crore has been made in BE 2023-24.

The DDA has undertaken retrofitting and upgradation of Nehru Place and Bhikaji Cama Place Commercial Centers. The refurbishment work, including construction of multilevel car parking, is in progress. A provision of Rs 65 crore has been made in BE 2023-24 for this purpose.

Construction of two foot over bridges in Dwarka is in progress. This will provide safe passage to pedestrians. A provision of Rs 6 crore has been kept in BE 2023-24 for this purpose.

The DDA, with an overall outlay of Rs 928.92 crore, has undertaken the work of rejuvenation and restoration of the floodplains of river Yamuna. The work is being taken up in a phased manner as 10 separate sub projects. A sum of Rs 405 crore has been provided in BE 2023-24 for this purpose.

The construction of the iconic Bharat Vandana Park is in full swing. The park located in Sector-20, Dwarka, is spread over 189.28 acres with the project cost of Rs 524 crore. A provision of Rs 105 crore has been kept in BE 2023-24 for this purpose.

The DDA has played a key role in the overall development and management of green spaces in the city. To continue this initiative, the DDA is carrying out development, upgradation and modernisation of existing as well as new parks.

A provision of Rs 61 crore has been kept in BE 2023-24 for this purpose. Apart from this, DDA is also maintaining around 787 parks. A provision of around Rs 400 crore has been kept in BE 2023-24 for this purpose.

The DDA has also prepared an action plan for rejuvenation of water bodies across Delhi.

A provision of Rs 55 crore has been provided in BE 2023-24 for this purpose. For irrigation and rejuvenation of water bodies and to reduce dependence on fresh water sources for watering of parks, the DDA has implemented sustainable water management practice for using treated water through STP pipeline from centralized STPs and through decentralized STPs installed on nearby drains using technologies such as Constructed Wetland – Phytorid – SWAB, Zohkasou and MBBR. For this purpose, a provision of Rs 4 crore has been kept in BE 2023-24.

The DDA has established a network of seven biodiversity parks spread over an area of about 3000 acres in Delhi in collaboration with Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE), University of Delhi. A provision of Rs 33 crore has been made in BE 2023-24 for the development and maintenance of these biodiversity parks.

The DDA has committed Rs 1000 crore for Phase IV of Delhi Metro. For this purpose, a provision of Rs 350 crore has been made in BE 2023-24.

To contain encroachment of DDA’s precious land, a provision of around Rs 106 crore has been made towards safety and security of land in the budget estimates for 2023-24.