Action Starts Against Delhi's Illegal Colonies

Over 1,800 unplanned settlements lack basic services, despite promises of regularisation.

- TIKAM SHARMA

In the heart of the national capital, over 1,800 unauthorized colonies remain trapped in legal and infrastructural limbo—neither fully regularized nor protected from a widening wave of demolition drives that have swept through Delhi in recent months. According to civic agency estimates, nearly 40 lakh people—about one-third of Delhi's population—live in these unplanned settlements, which were developed outside land-use regulations and urban planning norms.

These colonies gradually emerged over the decades to accommodate the city's growing migrant and low-income populations, who found formal housing unaffordable or inaccessible. While the Pradhan Mantri-Unauthorized Colonies in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojana (PM-UDAY) was launched in 2019 to grant ownership rights, progress has been painfully slow. As of mid-2025, fewer than 25,000 ownership certificates have been issued out of more than 4.5 lakh applications, according to data from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).