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Demand to demolish illegal Vasant Kunj office, malls

Staff Reporter

Investigation against the guilty officials of DDA sought

NEW DELHI: The Ridge Bachao Andolan has in letters to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanded that they ensure complete demolition of the illegal Vasant Kunj office and malls project coming up in the Capital on the Ridge and to order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the guilty officials of Delhi Development Authority who allowed this project to come up in violation of established laws.

In the letters, the Andolan -- an association of non-government organisations, village samitis and concerned citizens -- has stated that the Ridge is a strictly protected area as it provides its outlying communities with the health benefit of good air and also brings in all the groundwater that they depend on.

Pointing out that all the Master Plans since 1962 have insisted on "no infringement of the Delhi Ridge which must be maintained in its pristine glory'' and it has also been declared protected forest by the Bhure Lal Committee, the Andolan said the slum clusters of Lalkhet under DDA control were uprooted on environmental grounds in 2004 and then the land was auctioned off for construction of the mall-cum-office project.

In today's waterless scenario, said Onkareshwar of the Ridge Bachao Andolan, the destruction of an invaluable resource that recharges 85 per cent of the rainwater must stop.

Recharge of unpolluted pure drinking water would amount to over 3 billion litres per year from about 7 sq km of this Ridge recharge area. Even the Ministry of Environment and Forests has in its final report to the Supreme Court confirmed that the Vasant Kunj project on Ridge land was illegal and environmentally unsound, Mr. Onkareshwar said, adding that the Ministry had also held DDA responsible for this and said this project should not have been allowed to start in the first place.

As such, RBA has demanded action against DDA officials who were involved in the planning and construction of this project.

The RBA along with the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Saket, Vijay Jolly, recently demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation against three former Vice-Chairmen of Delhi Development Authority on the ground that it was during their tenure that all land deals and auction of DDA land took place for the five mega projects in Vasant Kunj and for the 54-acre Saket Mega Mall Project.

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