Redevelopment of GPRA colonies

The GPRA Proposal:

The Centre had in 2016 approved the redevelopment of seven General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) colonies i.e. Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Nauroji Nagar through National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) and Kasturba Nagar, Thyagraj Nagar, Srinivaspuri and Mohammadpur through Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

The redevelopment plan, approved by the Centre three years ago, would replace the housing stock of 12,970 dwelling units of Type I to IV with Build Up Area (BUA) of approx. 7.49 lakh sqm with approx. 25,667 dwelling units of Type II to VI with BUA of approx. 29.18 lakh sqm. with supporting social infrastructure facilities.

The project will also develop Government office accommodation for nearly 2.42 lakh sqm at Netaji Nagar. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs.32,835 crores including maintenance and operation costs for 30 years.

Plan to Translocate Trees:

Three of the seven government housing projects in south Delhi that were embroiled in a controversy since 2018 because the original proposal called for the felling of more than 16,000 trees, have been recommended for clearance by the Union government’s expert appraisal committee (EAC)

EAC was considering revised plans for the projects in Netaji Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and Kasturba Nagar colonies. It cleared the first two of the projects on March 28, and the third on April 23. The project in Sriniwaspuri had already been recommended for clearance by the committee in January.

According to these plans, fewer trees are to be felled, and a large number are to be translocated.

The revised Sriniwaspuri GPRA colony proposal shows that a large number of trees will be translocated, instead of being felled. In Sriniwaspuri, 1,336 trees were to be felled as per the previous plan, but now, 1,239 are proposed to be translocated.

Of 11,913 trees to be felled in Sarojini Nagar, 3,500 trees will be translocated and the rest retained, according to the revised plan. In Netaji Nagar, of the 3,906 proposed trees to be felled, 1,600 are to be translocated and the rest retained. In Kasturba Nagar, 405 will be translocated, and 798 retained, as per the EAC meeting minutes.

Redevelopment Progress:

On July 2019, a tender was floated by NBCC for dismantling and demolition of existing structures located at GPRA Colony at Sarojini Nagar. Subsequently, the demolition work is in progress at Netaji Nagar.

Consultancy services for comprehensive architectural & engineering planning and designing of the redevelopment of GPRA colony Sriniwaspuri, New Delhi was awarded first from CPWD. Work for Phase -I of the redevelopment of GPRA colony Sriniwaspuri has been awarded to M/S Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Pvt. Ltd. on EPC basis. Environment Clearance Proposal is in process.