The Hindu : New Delhi News : BSES grabbing Govt. land, alleges Mukhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

BSES grabbing Govt. land, alleges Mukhi

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 7. The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Jagdish Mukhi, today accused the private power distribution company, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, of trying to forcibly grab Government land and property worth crores of rupees at DESU colony in Janakpuri and use it for commercial purposes in total violation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Delhi Government at the time of privatisation of the power sector in July 2002.

In a letter addressed to Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor, B.L.Joshi, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader has demanded that the orders of the BSES Rajdhani Power Limited in this connection should be immediately withdrawn and a criminal case filed against the company for trying to usurp public land. He also urged Mr. Joshi to get the evaluation of such properties of the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board done as the private discoms were blatantly violating the provisions of the MoU and law to get control of valuable properties. Mr. Mukhi was also critical of the Delhi Government for remaining a mute spectator to such cases of land grab and sought immediate intervention to save hundreds of people living in this DESU colony from being displaced.

Relating the turn of events, Mr. Mukhi told newsmen that the BSES had issued a circular last month declaring all the 904 flats in the DESU colony as unsafe and asking the residents to vacate them. Interestingly, Mr. Mukhi claimed that Tina Ambani of Reliance Industries had visited the colony recently and had been very impressed by its proximity to the airport and the aesthetic location. He alleged that it was at that time that a conspiracy was hatched to grab this 24 acres of land. It was only after this that BSES stopped spending on the maintenance of this colony and raised the rent for the flats by around 20 per cent. Due to increased financial burden, already 50 per cent of the families living in this colony have vacated their houses and the rest are being forced to vacate to fulfil the "ambition and dream'' of Ms. Ambani, he alleged.

Mr.Mukhi reminded the private power company as well as the Delhi Government that under the notification issued in 2001, the discoms have no ownership rights on the assets and they could only use the assets till the date they are distributing power in the Capital. However, the BSES has gone beyond its jurisdiction and is trying to grab residential property and use the land and building for commercial purpose which was not only violation of land use rules but also violated the MoU terms and conditions. He warned that such blatant sell out would not be allowed and urged Mr. Joshi to immediately seek a status report on the issue. "The land at his colony is worth Rs. 650 crores if it used for residential purpose. However, if the land is put to commercial use, the price tag would go up manifold. There is certainly some kind of connivance of the BSES with the Delhi Government which is why it has managed to break all rules and get away with displacing hundreds of employees,'' he stated.

Hr urged Mr. Joshi to immediately direct the BSES to immediately withdraw the illegal circular asking the employees to vacate the flats and then all the assets should be evaluated afresh in order to unearth the under-valuing done at the time of privatisation of power sector.

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