New Delhi, April 7 The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has begun conducting aerial surveys to map and identify unauthorized colonies in Delhi under an integrated framework, which aims to regularize such areas on an "as is where is" basis and grant legal status to its residents.
According to an official statement by MoHUA and the Delhi government, the MCD will now issue Certificates of Regularization, conduct surveys of vacant plots, and facilitate civic infrastructure development across the 1,511 eligible colonies.
According to officials, the MCD has already started aerial surveys and expects to complete them in the next few days.
"At least 151 unauthorized colonies have been mapped via drone surveys and satellite imagery," an official said, adding that the remaining colonies will be mapped in the next 15 days.
"Key tools include the MCD-311 app for geotagging and the MCD SWAGAM portal for citizen services. As of April 2026, GIS surveys are being conducted for the regularisation of 1,511+ unauthorized colonies," an official said.
The Delhi government announced that the Revenue Department will continue issuing Conveyance Deeds for properties on government land and authorisation Slips for those on private land.
According to the official statement, starting April 24, residents who already hold a Conveyance Deed or authorisation slip can apply through MCD's SWAGAM portal at mcdonline.nic.in/swagam.
The applicant selects their colony, confirms their PM-UDAY Case ID, and if documents have been issued, the application proceeds directly. Those without a Case ID are redirected to the PM-UDAY portal first.
The MCD, the Revenue Department of the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD), and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) have announced a revamped approach under the PM-UDAY scheme to address a critical gap that left thousands of residents stranded even after receiving their ownership documents.
The absence of layout plans will no longer block regularisation. An inter-agency cell of DDA, MCD, and GNCTD will prepare layout plans using satellite imagery, taking the responsibility away from individual RWAs, the statement read.
As of March 31, only around 40,000 Conveyance Deeds and Authorisation Slips have been issued under PM-UDAY since the scheme's launch, a figure the government itself acknowledges reflects poor uptake.
The reason, officials said, was structural, as residents who received their documents could not get building plans approved because layout plans, which were to be prepared by Resident Welfare Associations and approved by MCD, were never put in place.
For residents wishing to reconstruct or redevelop, land equal to 50 per cent of the right-of-way shortfall must be surrendered to meet minimum road width requirements — six metres for internal roads and nine metres for approach roads. FAR will be calculated on the original plot area but applied within the reduced plot. Where existing structures exceed permissible FAR, penal charges at three times the additional FAR charges will apply.
Officials said these amendments aim to shift from an ownership-only framework to one that enables both ownership and regularisation of unauthorized colonies through a single, simplified process involving MCD, DDA, and GNCTD.
Previously, the corporation has taken similar measures to increase property tax revenue, including conducting door-to-door surveys, drone surveys, aerial view surveys, and thread mapping to identify defaulters and send them notices for defaulting in payment of property taxes.