NEW DELHI: Ruling out the possibility of issuing an Ordinance on the lines of what the Maharashtra Government did to regularise illegal buildings in Ulhasnagar township, the Congress party on Thursday decided to form another committee to coordinate with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Delhi Government to look into the widespread public hue and cry over the issue of demolitions of illegal buildings in the Capital.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Coordination Committee for Delhi headed by the Congress leader in charge of Delhi affairs, Ashok Gehlot. Others present at the meeting included Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma, New Delhi Member of Parliament Ajay Maken, Urban Development Minister A.K. Walia, Development Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan and Minto Road MLA Tajdar Babar. Mr. Gehlot had convened the meeting to discuss the ongoing demolitions being carried out by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on orders of the Delhi High Court.

The meeting decided to constitute a four-member committee with Dr. Walia as coordinator.

Other members of the committee will be Ms. Dikshit, Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal and Mr. Ram Babu Sharma.

The committee would look into all the problems including various aspects of illegal structures and unauthorised buildings in un-regularised colonies, approved unauthorised colonies, rural and urban villages and any other aspect of the present problem being faced by lakhs of residents.

The committee had also discussed the issue of coming out with an Ordinance on the matter but it was felt that first the problems should be identified before any action plan was finalised. It is learnt that the Coordination Committee expressed concern over the selective targeting of certain political leaders by the media and its fallout.

It is learnt that Mr. Gehlot stressed the need for better coordination between the various wings of the administration and said the present confrontation between the Delhi Government and MCD was not right for the health and image of the party.

"It is surprising that no Congress leader offered to remove illegal structures if any found by the MCD or any other agency. They have robbed themselves of this important moral aspect that could have turned the tide in their favour,'' a senior leader remarked.

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