NEW DELHI: Stating that the verdict of the judiciary with respect to sealing operations in the Capital had to be respected, Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said he did not agree that sealing of premises was the correct solution for a problem that was intrinsically complex and had huge social and economic consequences.

Talking to newspersons, Mr. Sibal, accompanied by experts in planning and academia, said there was a need for all political parties to sit together and find a solution that served the larger public interest. The issue should not be used as an opportunity for partisan politics, he added.

"I also believe that a body like the Urban Arts Commission or a body of planning experts should be entrusted with the task of evolving a strategy to deal with the present mess we are in and provide a solution for the future," he said.

The Minister clarified that he was speaking only as a concerned citizen of the Capital and was not pleading the cause of all those who built and connived in unauthorised constructions. He said the Government, the political parties and the civil society should think in terms of planning for the future and not restrict themselves to the issue of sealing itself.

Pointing out that the planning process in the Capital so far had left a huge gap between demand and supply in every aspect of infrastructure, Mr. Sibal pointed out that Master Plan for Delhi-1982 had envisaged 2,560 shopping centres whereas only 600 were in place.

"Also, as per the 1982 plan, 15 zonal plans were to be completed but only six were put in place in 20 years," he said. When there was such a huge gap between demand and supply, "human intervention was going to fill it". The Minister said the way forward was to craft a Master Plan for Delhi-2021 that made the city habitable and armed with infrastructure that served the needs of its residents.

Speaking at the press conference, Hazards Centre director Dunu Roy said only one side of the argument has been heard so far. "If those who violate the law are being punished, those who did not provide the requisite number of structures over the past so many years should also be taken to task." He said the planners should be held accountable to the public.

Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University said despite the Right to Information Act the Delhi Development Authority had not divulged any details of its planning methodology.

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