An Unauthorized Colony(UC) is an unplanned or illegal settlement that is not part of the master plan development area or not marked as a residential area. Historically, they were predominantly rural or agricultural lands, but now their development generally evades building bye-laws and planning regulations.

In these colonies, there is an Unplanned Housing Subsystem that consists of settlers who possess semi-legitimate titles (as purchasers of plots in these settlements have documents that prove that they possess some form of tenure, sometimes referred to as 'semi-legal'), but a subdivision of land into plots occurred with or without the compliance with planning norms, zonal regulations, building bye laws (developed roads, open spaces, and other amenities) and the approval of the competent authority (for example, the Delhi Development Authority in Delhi).

As a result, these UCs exist in a liminal legal space: while they are not perceived as an encroachment on Jhuggi Jhopri Clusters (JJCs), they are also not considered as being part of the "planned" city.

The Origin of Unauthorized Colonies in India

A large influx of refugees started migrating from Pakistan to India in 1947. This resulted in the formation of unauthorized/unapproved/illegal layouts or colonies in several cities in different parts of the country soon after the partition of the country. Because the government could not meet the huge housing demand in the refugee colonies, private landowners took advantage of their land and sold it to people in need without proper planning.

The housing demand in India has always been greater than the supply, owing to the rapid increase in population and urbanization. Moreover, migration and unaffordability have further exacerbated the housing shortage, increasing the immense lack of affordable housing options. As a result, there is no doubt that cities lack affordable housing stock and infrastructure to support it.

Reasons for the Development of Unauthorized Colonies

There are several reasons for the promotion of the development of unauthorized Colonies which are as follows:

• High Land Value in Cheaper Rates: As a result of cheaper rates, buyers often overlook development controls and building bye laws, avoiding wide roads, community facilities, and open spaces in pursuit of 100% land utilization. 
• Employment opportunities in Urban Areas: The migration of people from rural to urban areas in the search of job opportunities creates the demand for housing and it promotes the development of UC’s.
• Illegal Migration from outside the Country: These days India is facing illegal migration from several neighboring countries, which directly creates a high housing demand in the society and it promotes the development of UC’s.
• Saving of Revenue Fees: The Non-conversion of agricultural land to Residential Land saves developers REVENUE FEES approximately 5-9% of Basic Land Value. 
• Need for Cheaper Houses: These Corrupt developers take advantage of the situation where poor people are in search of a house at cheaper rates, and later, leave them to face the consequences of buying into or living in an illegal property.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Unauthorized Colonies 

There are several advantages and disadvantages to the presence of Unauthorized Colonies which are as follows:

Advantages 

• It provides permanent shelters or houses to the poor people due to the cheaper rates of land in these colonies.
• It provides rental houses for the migrated people who came from rural areas to urban areas in the search of jobs nearby their job locations.
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Disadvantages 

• It decreases the revenue of the government which can be generated if the land is converted from agricultural to residential which is bypassed by the developers. 
• It directly promotes the living of the illegally migrated people in our country from other countries because of the affordable housing in these colonies.
• It degrades the living standard of people because the building bye laws are overlooked by the developers. It creates a situation where none of the amenities like parks, proper roads, and sewage systems are offered in these colonies. 

How does VIS help in finding the Unauthorized Colonies List?

VIS stands for Valuation Intelligent System, the only platform in India nowadays which is the whole and sole solution for everyone while finding the Unauthorized Colonies List of several states & Union territories in India with a single click. The VIS is a platform that is the first valuation system in India to do such a thing.

The best part about VIS is that it has an easy-to-use interface which makes it user-friendly. It helps us to know which colonies are unauthorized while buying.

Using the VIS, the users don't have to visit several government websites in order to get the list of unauthorized colonies of different states and union territories. This makes their work more accessible and convenient by eliminating the need to visit several websites.