Delhi set for major district rejig as govt proposes 13-district structure

New Delhi: The Delhi government has proposed a sweeping reshuffle of the capital's administrative map, raising the number of existing 11 districts to 13 with new names, officials said on Friday.

According to the draft plan of the Revenue department, the names of nine districts are recommended to be Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, Rohini, Narela, Najafgarh, City Sadar, Keshavpuram, North Shahdara and South Shahdara, they said. Central District, New Delhi, South District and West District are the remaining four district names, which have been retained in the proposal as is.

Except Shahdara, the existing districts bear names according to their geographic locations, such as East Delhi, West Delhi, North Delhi, South Delhi, South East Delhi, New Delhi, North West Delhi, Central Delhi, North East Delhi and South West Delhi.

The proposal for change in the names of the districts is in accordance with the government's policy decision to make their jurisdictional and geographical boundaries the same as those of municipal zones, the officer said.

According to the proposal, the North-East and East districts, having the highest population density, should be reorganised into North Shahdara and South Shahdara districts.

The reorganisation proposal recommends minimum changes in the New Delhi district, popularly known as Lutyens Delhi, although its three sub-divisions, Delhi Cantt, Vasant Vihar and Chanakyapuri, are recommended to be regrouped in Delhi Cantt and New Delhi sub-divisions.

The localities under the Vasant Vihar sub-division are proposed to be merged with the Najafgarh district, officials said.

The proposal is to be vetted and approved by the Delhi cabinet and sent to the lieutenant governor for his nod, before implementation, they added.