Mud housing enthusiasts received a
blow recently when the Delhi High
Court dismissed a writ petition by
the Mud Village Society (MVS), staking claim to a 2.1 ha plot in East
Delhi on which it intends to build a
housing colony. The court held that
as there was no letter of allotment in
the society's favour, it had no legal
claim to the land. Moreover, the
petitioner had not constituted a
cooperative society as required by
the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
In a letter dated May 4, 1988,
DDA had expressed its willingness to
give MVS land in Nand Nagri for the
mud housing project, provided a
society was formed for the purpose
and people already registered with
DDA were given preference in allotment.
MVS began a lengthy screening
of applicants for environmental
awareness because of which it had
not yet made any payment for the
land when, on October 15, 1992, the
ministry of urban developmentferred it to the Municipal
Corporation of Delhi for setting up
staff quarters. WS then filed its writ
peti .tion, claiming the transfer was
unjustified.
An official of the Housing and
Urban Development Corporation,
which had earlier agreed to finance
60 per cent of the project's estimated
cost, now says, "It is too early yet for
such innovative ideas." And,
spokespersons of the ministry of
urban development say mud housing
technology should first be tested in
smaller projects.
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