The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi Government, MCD cross swords

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Thursday, Dec 20, 2007
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New Delhi

Delhi Government, MCD cross swords

Staff Reporter

Mayor rebuts Sheila’s allegation on bad roads

Delhi Mayor Arti Mehra

NEW DELHI: The Mayor of Delhi, Arti Mehra, has not taken too kindly to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s allegation that there has been a perceptible decline in maintenance of roads and sanitation in the Capital.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Ms. Mehra said the Chief Minister had made sweeping allegations without substantiating her observations with facts. “She says there is construction material, debris and heaps of garbage on the roads but has not named a single road where such conditions are prevailing.

She has also not clarified when the ‘perceptible decline’ started. It clearly shows that the allegations are unsubstantiated, baseless and politically motivated,” she charged.

The Mayor pointed out that all main roads, zonal roads and Ring Road along with its service roads came under the purview of the Delhi Government.

“Some of the roads taken over from the MCD have suffered in maintenance and riding quality. A number of roads maintained by the Public Works Department are in a deplorable condition. These include service roads at Wazirpur Industrial Area, Aurobindo Marg, Mathura Road, Badarpur-Mehrauli Road, Anuvarat Marg, Guru Ravidass Marg (Kalkaji), Wazirabad Road, Road No.66 (Shahdara) and Road No.37 (Pitampura),” she added.

Ms. Mehra claimed that Lieutenant-General Tejendra Khanna had recently appreciated a visible improvement in Delhi’s sanitation standards: “He said the number of complaints received regarding sanitation had declined. He also lauded the civic body on being able to prepare a master plan for sanitation within the given time-frame.”

“The Delhi Government is taking advantage of its position instead of enabling the civic body to discharge its function more effectively. It is unfortunate that the letter of the Chief Minister was leaked to the media even before it could reach me. I have written a number of letters to the Chief Minister but these have never been passed on to the media. There have also been several attempts to bifurcate the power of the MCD which is definitely not in the best interests of the people,” the Mayor added.

According to Ms. Mehra, the Delhi Government was usurping the rights of the MCD even though the civic body was trying its utmost to fulfil its responsibilities. “The High Court had directed the Delhi Government to assist us in controlling the monkey menace. The Government was directed to build a boundary wall around Asola wildlife sanctuary to ensure that the monkeys were well-fed and provide cages to the civic body. But they failed on all accounts. There have also been attempts to take away the upkeep of the municipal schools and the functioning of the Slum and Jhuggi Jhompri Department from the civic body. All this is being done only to cause cessation of work so that the Government can capitalise on our apparent failure to carry out our duty,” she added.

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