Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday provided definitive assurance that no demolition action will be taken against existing constructions in colonies and villages falling within the O-Zone area. According to reports from The Hindu, Gupta chaired a high-level meeting at the Delhi Secretariat to address the concerns of residents living in the protected, eco-sensitive zone along the 22-km Yamuna floodplain stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla, where permanent construction is banned. The meeting was attended by Bharatiya Janata Party MPs Ramvir Singh Bidhuri (South Delhi) and Manoj Tiwari (North East Delhi), along with Gandhi Nagar MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely, Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar, and other senior officials. The meeting also included officials from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The O-Zone area encompasses approximately 91 unauthorised colonies and a dozen old villages, with a population of around 15 lakh people. As reported by The Hindu, the O-Zone refers to the eco-sensitive area that includes the Yamuna river floodplains in Delhi. During the meeting, officials informed the Chief Minister that around 91 colonies and nearly a dozen old villages fall within the O-Zone and are home to approximately 15 lakh people. Residents have been worried due to signboards installed by authorities, but public representatives told the meeting that after examining High Court orders and government records, they found that existing structures were not under threat.
According to The Hindu, the Delhi High Court had issued a significant order on May 26 directing the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to submit a report on demolition measures taken to prevent further unauthorised construction in the O-zone. During the meeting, Gupta sought clarification from senior DDA officials regarding the implementation of the court's directions. The chief minister stated that the court did not make any observations regarding completed constructions but had expressed concerns about ongoing construction activities. Gupta emphasized that since the court had communicated its position to the DDA, it should act in line with the court's position, clarifying that the court had only flagged ongoing construction activities, not existing structures.
BJP MPs Ramvir Bidhuri and Manoj Tiwari have initiated the rectification process for the erroneous inclusion of areas in the O-Zone. According to The Hindu, Bidhuri informed that Chief Minister Gupta was informed during the meeting that these colonies had already been regularized on March 24, 2008, at a time when they fell under the F-Zone rather than the O-Zone. However, on August 10, 2010, the previous governments at Centre and Delhi placed these areas in the Yamuna O-Zone. Following public objections, the DDA issued a draft notification on September 28, 2013 proposing to shift them back to the F-Zone from the O-Zone, which received approval from the then Union Urban Development Minister, but the final notification has not yet been issued. Bidhuri added that both the government's Principal Committee and the DDA already completed physical demarcation while an expert committee concluded that these villages and colonies do not adversely affect the river's flow or ecological quality.
The two Lok Sabha members Bidhuri and Tiwari submitted a memorandum to Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu urging him to exclude the residential colonies and villages from the O-zone. According to The Hindu, they stated they would seek "justice for 15 lakh people" from Mr. Lal. MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri addressed a subsequent press conference, stating that Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has made it clear that no demolition of any kind will be carried out in the old inhabited areas falling under the O-Zone. He added that BJP MPs would soon meet Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to present the factual position and seek justice for the affected residents. MP Manoj Tiwari said they have already initiated the entire process to rectify the erroneous inclusion of certain areas in the O-Zone, accusing previous governments of failing to resolve the issue and asserting that existing houses would not be harmed.
