IIlegal construction complaints unheard
15 Jun 2012 1:49 AM GMT
Fearing collapse of their houses in coming monsoon due to ongoing illegal construction in their neighbourhood, people are thronging the offices of municipal corporations to stall the work. But apparently, there efforts went in vain due to the nexus between police and corporation officials.
One such case is of Vinod Kumar [30], a resident of Punjabi Basti in Karol Bagh. He has been running from pillar to post to stall the construction in his neighbourhood. An under-construction building fell on his house in April this year, and his son’s leg was fractured. His wife also sustained injuries in the incident. Fear of a repeat of the mishap in the coming monsoon season is looming large, as the contractor has apparently broken the police seal to start the construction. Now the police have turned a deaf ear on the issue.
‘The monsoon is knocking at the door but illegal construction is on full swing. No one is listening to us,’ said Vinod Kumar who was at Civic Centre to Meet North Delhi Mayor Meera Aggarwal.
The police had sealed the under-construction house on 26 April, the day it collapsed, but the contractor broke the seal a few days later. ‘I reported to police but no action has been taken so far,’ added Kumar. In the FIR lodged at Anand Parbat police station, a copy of which is with Millennium Post, the police had registered a case against Satish Prajapati and two others for negligence. They were arrested but released on bail within a couple of days.
Vinod is not a solitary case. Complaints of illegal construction from various parts of the city have been pouring in the offices of corporations.
‘We are receiving dozens of such complains every day, mainly from unauthorised colonies,’ said a senior official in North Delhi Municipal Corporation [NDMC].
Erstwhile MCD used to conduct of a routine survey to identify such dangerous buildings in the walled city, but no such survey was done in other parts of the city. In the pre-monsoon survey done by MCD in 2011, only 45 dangerous buildings were notified while 363 were identified as repairable. But around 20 houses collapsed last monsoon.
‘Such cases are dealt on a case-to-case basis and we direct our officials to take action if any such matter is reported,’ said S S Yadav, Commissioner East Delhi.
One such case is of Vinod Kumar [30], a resident of Punjabi Basti in Karol Bagh. He has been running from pillar to post to stall the construction in his neighbourhood. An under-construction building fell on his house in April this year, and his son’s leg was fractured. His wife also sustained injuries in the incident. Fear of a repeat of the mishap in the coming monsoon season is looming large, as the contractor has apparently broken the police seal to start the construction. Now the police have turned a deaf ear on the issue.
‘The monsoon is knocking at the door but illegal construction is on full swing. No one is listening to us,’ said Vinod Kumar who was at Civic Centre to Meet North Delhi Mayor Meera Aggarwal.
The police had sealed the under-construction house on 26 April, the day it collapsed, but the contractor broke the seal a few days later. ‘I reported to police but no action has been taken so far,’ added Kumar. In the FIR lodged at Anand Parbat police station, a copy of which is with Millennium Post, the police had registered a case against Satish Prajapati and two others for negligence. They were arrested but released on bail within a couple of days.
Vinod is not a solitary case. Complaints of illegal construction from various parts of the city have been pouring in the offices of corporations.
‘We are receiving dozens of such complains every day, mainly from unauthorised colonies,’ said a senior official in North Delhi Municipal Corporation [NDMC].
Erstwhile MCD used to conduct of a routine survey to identify such dangerous buildings in the walled city, but no such survey was done in other parts of the city. In the pre-monsoon survey done by MCD in 2011, only 45 dangerous buildings were notified while 363 were identified as repairable. But around 20 houses collapsed last monsoon.
‘Such cases are dealt on a case-to-case basis and we direct our officials to take action if any such matter is reported,’ said S S Yadav, Commissioner East Delhi.
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