Delhi new Districts: Proposal seeks new map aligned with MCD zones

According to the restructuring plan, the districts of North, North East, East, North West, South East and South West are proposed to be dissolved. The new districts suggested include Karol Bagh, Civil Lines, Keshavpuram, Najafgarh, Narela, Rohini, North Shahdara and South Shahdara. Most of these names come from existing MCD administrative divisions.Delhi’s revenue department has proposed a major restructuring of the capital’s administrative boundaries, recommending the creation of nine new districts and the reorganisation of the current 11 districts into 13. The draft proposal submitted to the Delhi government suggests dissolving several existing districts and aligning new boundaries closely with Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) zones to reduce jurisdictional overlap and improve coordination, a TOI report stated.

If approved, the redrawn map will change how administrative work is distributed across the capital, bringing revenue districts and civic zones under common boundaries to streamline governance, reduce confusion and enable quicker responses to public concerns.

Mismatch in current boundaries led to overhaul

Delhi’s administrative setup is currently fragmented. The revenue department has 11 districts, each headed by a district magistrate, while the MCD has 12 zones managed by deputy commissioners. In many parts of the city, the boundaries of these two bodies do not match.

These mismatches often cause coordination problems. For example, parts of Najafgarh MCD zone fall under New Delhi revenue district even though they are far from central Delhi. Many residents in these areas assume their administration falls under West or South West district. Similar inconsistencies exist in the Karol Bagh zone, where some areas fall within North West district.

Such overlaps make joint action between departments challenging and affect delivery of services.

Chief minister ordered realignment to improve coordination

These issues led chief minister Rekha Gupta to order a complete redrawing of district boundaries. The proposal follows her August 30 announcement that district limits would be aligned with corporation zones “to improve inter-departmental coordination, eliminate jurisdictional overlaps and enable quicker response to public grievances.”

Officials said the chief minister later gave in-principle approval for the revenue department to move ahead with the restructuring. The primary goal, they added, is to ensure that both the revenue districts and Mcd zones operate within the same geographical limits.

“The plan includes replacing older, larger districts with smaller, more compact units so that the complexities are minimised and governance becomes simplified,” the officials said.