The Hindu : New Delhi News : Parliament approves Bill for moratorium on demolitions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 16, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Parliament approves Bill for moratorium on demolitions

Special Correspondent

`The legality of the Bill cannot be questioned'

NEW DELHI: Parliament on Monday passed the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill, 2006, with the Rajya Sabha approving it unanimously through a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on Friday. It proposes a one-year moratorium on demolitions and sealing of illegal buildings in the national capital by providing for status quo as on January 1, 2006, of unauthorised development in respect of mixed land use, construction beyond sanctioned plans and encroachments by slum dwellers, hawkers and street vendors in the capital.

Addressing concerns expressed by Members, Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said all the shops would be de-sealed as soon as the Bill became law and those who had filed affidavits promising to stop their businesses by June end would be able to resume trade. "This is the understanding given by our law officers," he said, adding that the Bill not only addresses the concerns of five lakh shopkeepers but also lakhs of slum dwellers and hawkers who were forced to undertake unauthorised construction for compelling reasons. Simultaneously, the Government had begun the process of regularising 1,400 unauthorised colonies housing over 20 lakh people. "I have moved a Cabinet note to get them regularised," Mr. Reddy revealed. At the same time the Government would not spare those privy to illegalities. The dismissal of 17 senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi engineers was one of the "harshest measures" so far. Besides the exemption would not apply to encroachments on public land, he clarified.

Addressing Sushma Swaraj's (Bharatiya Janata Party) charge that the Government was slow in responding to the situation, the Minister said the present situation could have been avoided if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had finalised the Delhi Master Plan during its tenure at the Centre. "If only the NDA government had been more perspicacious and compassionate the present situation could have been avoided."

The Minister said the Bill took adequate care of legal aspects while replying to doubts expressed by Arun Jaitley (BJP) about the legislation standing up to the Supreme Court's scrutiny. "The legality of the Bill cannot be seriously questioned. It not only gives relief to the affected but also breathing time to the Government apparatus to attend to the problem of this magnitude that had accumulated over decades." Mr. Reddy hoped the crisis could be used beneficially by accelerating work on the master plan.

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