'Illegal Delhi colonies to be regularised in 6 months'

There are 1,797 unauthorised colonies housing several lakh people in Delhi that are awaiting regularisation for many years.

The BJP will ensure regularisation of all the unauthorised colonies in the city within six months, Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari said on Wednesday.

The BJP central leadership has directed its Delhi unit leaders to conduct a survey to take feedback of the residents of unauthorised colonies in the city, he said.

"All the unauthorised colonies will be regularised in six months from now. The Delhi BJP leaders will visit unauthorised colonies on September 22 in 22 assembly segments to get feedback from people and exposing the Kejriwal government which has failed to regularise these settlements despite being in rule for five years," Tiwari said at a press conference.

The issue of regularisation of unauthorised colonies has been a major poll plank in Delhi. In the last Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the Narendra Modi government had "planned to demolish" them.

Tiwari said had the Delhi government been committed to the issue, the unauthorised colonies could have been regularised within a few months.

"More than two months have passed since Arvind Kejriwal announced that registration of properties in unauthorised colonies will begin soon. He should tell what has been done in these two months," he said.

In July, Kejriwal had said residents of unauthorised colonies in the national capital would soon have ownership rights of their properties and asserted that the Centre had agreed to its proposal on regularisation.

He had claimed that the Centre was "positive" on his government's proposal for regularisation of unauthorised colonies and promised that dreams of lakhs of people to have ownership rights of their properties in these colonies would be realised soon.

Delhi BJP leaders will visit all the unauthorised colonies in the next few months, Tiwari said, adding that the party will also take up the issue of development of slums in the city.

Last week, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had slammed the Kejriwal government over the issue saying that it did nothing for regularisation of unauthorised colonies and delayed the process seeking "extensions after extensions" in its five-year tenure.

Both the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP have been blaming each other for delayed regularisation of these colonies.

There are 1,797 unauthorised colonies housing several lakhs people, that are awaiting regularisation for many years.