Capital’s new diplomatic enclave to come up in Dwarka

Following a request from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for alternatives to Chanakyapuri for developing a new diplomatic enclave, the Union Urban Development Ministry (UDM) has zeroed in on Dwarka in South-West Delhi. “We sent a proposal to the UDM …because there is hardly any land left in Chanakyapuri for more missions. We will take over the 100-acre area in Dwarka once Delhi Development Authority (DDA) gets it ready, which is likely to take a year or so,” a senior MEA official told Newsline. R K Jain, DDA Director (Planning), Dwarka, confirmed that land for the enclave will be in sectors 27, 28 and 29 of Dwarka. “While the proposal had been around for some time, it is now being fast-tracked. We have already acquired the land in the area and will soon take charge of it,” he said. MEA officials say they have several requests for new consulates and missions, though it has not been finalised which countries will have missions in Dwarka . Mostly African, Latin American and erstwhile USSR countries are expected to set up base in new enclave. MEA officials, however, said actual allotments will be made only after DDA has developed the Dwarka land. UDM had earlier raised reservations on the MEA request for additional land, saying that there were several vacant plots in Chanakyapuri. MEA officials, however, said that the issue has been sorted out. Though some 22 plots have been vacant since the 1960s, the MEA was in the process of bifurcating these and will then be allotting them to some other countries, officials said. Over 64 missions are already housed at Chanakyapuri. Still others are spread across South Delhi areas including Vasant Vihar, East of Kailash, Panchsheel, Africa Avenue and Paschimi Marg. Dwarka has been chosen for the second diplomatic enclave as it is close to the airport with an expanding metro network and is the focus of with massive infrastructure upgradation exercise by the DDA. –Expressindia