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Disturbing questions on demolitions law

With the notification of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill, 2006, an immediate stop has been put to the vigorous and unprecedented court-ordered demolition and sealing drive in the Capital. Over the last six months, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi — which was acting on the orders of the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court — had conducted a massive operation that involved demolishing unauthorised constructions and sealing shops functioning in strictly residential areas. The Bill, which was passed unanimously by Parliament, raises many disturbing questions. Why should those who violate the law be granted such a reprieve? What signal does it send out about the Government's commitment to stand up to the powerful commercial interests that routinely flout building norms? What purpose is served by maintaining the status quo for a year? There are no easy or convincing answers to these questions and it is no surprise that the legislation has been greeted with widespread public cynicism. Over the years, those responsible for planning in the country's urban areas have systematically allowed rules to be bent, turning a blind eye to building violations and encroachments of publicly owned land. The courts, which goaded the MCD into proceeding against over 18,000 buildings in the Capital that were listed for various irregularities, were keen on taking action — particularly against corrupt officials, deceitful builders, and influential people ("the big fish) who have "permitted or have indulged in unauthorised constructions."

But there was another dimension to the exercise. The demolition and sealing drive may have targeted the powerful but it also rendered many poor people homeless and out of work. In many cases, these people had been living or working out of the demolished or sealed buildings for decades — paying property taxes and that for water and sewerage. The Government's defence of the new law is hinged on the fact that illegal and unauthorised constructions have been around for decades and the problem is much too vast, complex, and sensitive to be dealt solely by demolition and sealing orders. It is said the one-year moratorium will be used to take stock of the situation, enumerate "pardonable" violations, and decide on the implementation of the Tejinder Khanna Committee report — which was set up to suggest a broad-based strategy to deal with the unauthorised construction issue. If the moratorium is used to chalk out a plan that is rational, comprehensive, humanitarian, and in consonance with the spirit of Delhi's master plan, then the Act would have served an extremely useful purpose. If it becomes a mere excuse to let the real estate dealers, the construction lobby, and the rich traders off the hook, then the worst fears about the extraordinary piece of legislation — passed in great haste and specifically to circumvent the court-ordered drive against illegal constructions — would have come true.

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