(Daily News Scan - DNS English) What is Green Blue Policy?
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is holding public consultations for the preparation of the Master Plan for Delhi 2041. The existing master plan 2021 will be outdated next year. Master Plan for Delhi 2041, is a vision document for the city’s development over the next two decades. This policy has several features, but the focus on water bodies and the land around it, which is referred to as the “Green-Blue policy”, promises to give the city a new shape.
In this DNS we will talk about green blue policy, challenges and how will it look like.
The green Blue policy name is given keeping in mind the trees, plants, and water bodies. Blue’ infrastructure refers to water bodies like rivers, canals, ponds, wetlands, floodplains, and water treatment facilities; while ‘Green’ stands for trees, lawns, hedgerows, parks, fields, and forests.
The concept refers to urban planning where water bodies and land are interdependent, and grow with the help of each other while offering environmental and social benefits.
The Delhi Development Authority, in its first stage plans to deal with the multiplicity of agencies, which because of the special nature of the state, has plagued it for several years. It wants to first map out the issues of jurisdiction, work being done by different agencies on drains, and the areas around them. Thereafter, a comprehensive policy will be drawn up, which would then act as the common direction for all agencies.
Why such a policy?
- Delhi has around 50 big drains (blue areas) managed by different agencies, and due to their poor condition and encroachment, the land around (green areas) has also been affected.
- DDA, along with other agencies, will integrate them and remove all sources of pollution by checking the outfall of untreated wastewater as well as removal of existing pollutants.
- A mix of mechanised and natural systems will be adopted. Dumping of solid wastes in any of these sites will be strictly prohibited by local bodies, and penalties will also be imposed.
Features –
- After the redevelopment Land around these drains, carrying storm water, will be declared as special buffer projects.
- A network of connected green spaces would be developed in the form of green mobility circuits of pedestrian and cycling paths.
- There are also plans to develop spaces for yoga, active sports, open air exhibitions, museums and information centres, open air theatres, cycling and walking facilities, arboretums, greenhouses, community vegetable gardens, facilities for boating, restaurants, and other low impact public uses that may be encouraged as part of special projects.
Now let us know about the challenges.
The biggest challenge here is the multiplicity of agencies.
DDA wants to bring together different agencies like Delhi Jal Board, Flood and
Irrigation Department, and municipal corporations as stakeholders in the
project.
This will be a tough task, especially as DDA has no supervisory power over these
bodies.
Secondly, cleaning of water bodies and drains has been a challenge for agencies in Delhi for years now.
According to a report by researchers of IIT-Delhi on 20 major sewer drains and five prominent sites on the River Yamuna found abundant presence of coliform and other pollutants. Only rainwater is supposed to flow in these drains, but the study found out sewage waste along with industrial waste in some.
A similar attempt was made by DDA earlier, where a special task force was created to check dumping of waste in Yamuna, which was not successful.
