'Noida, Gurgaon have grown at Delhi's cost'

 Feb 16, 2007

Noida Property News: The satellite township idea to check the inflow of people into the national capital has failed miserably and Delhi has ended up becoming a "dormitory" for people who live here but work in the neighbouring areas, says Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken. Satellite towns like Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon in Haryana have grown at the cost of Delhi, but have not resulted in bringing down the number of people coming to the capital, the Minister said here.

  "Let me tell you this satellite township idea has failed miserably. And in the past we were totally depending on satellite towns and were expecting that they are going to act as a barrier to stop people from coming to Delhi," he said.

Maken said while the idea was that people should work in Delhi but live in the satellite towns, the opposite was happening.

"They (Uttar Pradesh) planned Noida in such a way that people go there to work but live in Delhi. Similarly, Gurgaon has become a working hub for people staying in Delhi. So Delhi has become a dormitory," he asserted.

"Gurgaon and Noida have developed at the cost of Delhi," Maken said, apparently suggesting that the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has failed to deliver the desired results.

The NCRPB was set up in 1985 with an aim to decongest the national capital and evolve a common approach to development in the region.

The aim was to develop townships that would act as a counter-magnet to Delhi and thus put a check on the number of people migrating to the capital.

by http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com