The Hindu : New Delhi News : Illegal constructions at Sainik Farms alleged

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Wednesday, Aug 09, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Illegal constructions at Sainik Farms alleged

Staff Reporter

`MCD officials are hand in glove with erring property owners'

NEW DELHI: Municipal Councillors on Tuesday alleged that despite the High Court order, illegal constructions were going on unabated at Sainik Farms in South Delhi. They charged that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi officials were hand in glove with erring property owners and were allowing them to carry out unauthorised constructions.

Court commissioner

"As per the High Court order, the civic body constructed a picket at the entry point of Sainik Farms about a couple of years ago to ensure that no construction material is transported inside the posh locality. But despite this, illegal constructions have continued there, which even the court commissioner of the area has pointed out," said Leader of House Jitender Kochar at the Standing Committee meeting.

Alleging that illegal constructions are being carried out on a massive scale by the "influential" people who live at Sainik Farms that has illegally come up on agricultural land, Mr. Kochar asked Municipal Commissioner A. K. Nigam what action he has taken against those corrupt officials of the zone who have failed to check illegal constructions.

"Though a couple of unauthorised structures were demolished recently following complaints from area residents, the fact is that still these illegal activities are still continuing," he added.

Congress Councillor Sanjay Puri also expressed concern over the issue. Giving example of his zone, he said since January 1 this year, more that 650 complaints of illegal constructions have been recorded in the West zone also, which proves that official-builder mafia nexus is still engaged in illegal construction activities across the Capital by blatantly ignoring the court orders.

Mafia nexus

Referring to a court observation that politician-official-builder mafia nexus was behind all illegal constructions in the city, Leader of the Opposition in the Standing Committee Vijender Gupta asked Mr. Nigam to disclose whether any politician was behind continuing illegal activities at Sainik Farms.

"The civic body's prestige is at stake and no laxity in this matter will be tolerated," he said, demanding strict action against officials, including senior engineers, for the mess.

Standing Committee Chairman J. K. Sharma asked Mr. Nigam to immediately fix responsibility for the dereliction of duty and take strict action against them, besides carrying out demolition drive at Sainik Farms. Mr. Nigam has been asked to present a detailed report on the issue in the next Standing Committee meeting.

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