DMRC considering monetary compensation for Trilokpuri residents after DDA refuses ROW

To speed up work on the 1.37-km stretch between Trilokpuri and Mayur Vihar pocket-I on Pink Line, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has said that it was ready to explore the option of paying compensation to Trilokpuri residents displaced by the construction of the new line.

The link between Trilokpuri and Mayur Vihar was stuck after the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) refused sanction a section of the right of way (ROW) for rehabilitation of affected residents. In the available space, only 66 housing units could be accommodated, which was leaving out a few families.

A day after Hindustan Times reported that the DDA will not allow the Metro to reduce the 30-metre ROW on the Trilokpuri road to 25.5 metres to relocate these residents of 108 plots in Block-15, senior DMRC officials said they will have to explore the option of providing monetary compensation to the residents who could not be accommodated in the available land.

The section between Trilokpuri and Mayur Vihar pocket-I, which has been stuck in a land acquisition and rehabilitation tussle between the Delhi Metro and the DDA, is an important link of Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor. Currently, the section is running in two parts—from Majlis Park to Mayur Vihar pocket-I, and Trilokpuri to Shiv Vihar— because of a break in continuity.

“In view of the current situation and circumstances, wherein permission from the DDA has not been received to reduce ROW to construct the remaining residential units for those affected by the Metro alignment, it appears that the DMRC will have to explore the option of monetary compensation,” a statement released by the DMRC read.

“The resettlement terms are between the Metro and the residents. We cannot reduce road space keeping future developments and traffic volume in mind,” a senior DDA official said.