NEW DELHI: While a large number of Municipal Councillors are crying themselves hoarse over the sealing and demolition issue, Councillor and member of the Board of Enquiry constituted to consider the suggestions and objections to the Master Plan for Delhi-2021, Virender Kasana, has said that not one Councillor, MLA or MP from Delhi had bothered to attend a special meeting of the Board called to gather their suggestions.

"The Councillors used to ask me to make some changes to the draft Master Plan, but no one seriously made any suggestion which would have made a difference to the situation today,'' Mr Kasana said.

The Councillor also held that it was the previous National Democratic Alliance regime that was to blame for the mess Delhi finds itself in now. "The Master Plan-2021 is already five years late and we know that work on it started in right earnest after 2004, when the United Progressive Alliance Government came to power.''

He said the issue of sealing and demolitions would not have arisen had the Master Plan-2021 been implemented earlier as permission for mixed land use would have made most of the structures being targeted now legal. "We now need to implement Master Plan-2021 at the earliest. But since the Tejinder Khanna Committee is supervising the provisions of the building by-laws, and the suggestions made by it would be incorporated, the Master Plan will have to wait a little while more as the panel is due to submit its report on May 15.''

Importantly, the non-official members of DDA had in their meeting with Mr Khanna demanded that all structures within the boundaries of residential premises be regularised. "We want that people who have covered the front and rear portions on their plots should be allowed to pay the compounding fees and get the violations regularised. Another demand was that instead of fixing a limit of three floors, residential buildings be allowed up to a height of 15 metres as that would allow at least four floors.''

Reacting to the criticism being heaped on the Authority, a senior DDA official said preparation of the Master Plan was a participatory process and a public notice had been issued for inviting suggestions last year. "However, while few elected representatives bothered to respond then, or have their say in the Authority meeting through the MLAs and Councillors who represent them, now efforts are being made to pass the buck.''

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail