The committee constituted by the Delhi High Court on Tuesday (September 26) reported back to the court that illegal constructions and encroachments were not only rampant in the city, but even the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) have been in violation of laws as statutory authorities.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar is hearing petitions filed by NGOs People All India Anti Corruption and Crime Prevention Society and Pardarshita Public Welfare Foundation who have filed writs under Article 226 that the statutory authorities are under strict violation of building by-laws.
On the last date of hearing, on August 2, the bench ordered the demolition of a building situated in Andrews Ganj. The court said the demolition was to be completed in three days and directed the Delhi Police SHO to ensure the compliance of the court order.
On Tuesday, the bench received the report of the committee, which said that there were encroachments on public lands, and in Chunamandi in Paharganj people are living in hazardous conditions, yet with electricity and water supply connections.
At Bagga Link 1,700 sq yards of DDA property has been encroached upon and no action has been taken in this regard. A statue of Lord Hanuman has been constructed on the right side of the street. The bench said that the municipal corporation should look into this part.
The report also said that the maximum usage of encroached land is used as parking lots.
The bench has asked for a detailed list of encroachments to be given to all parties, including the CBI.
It was also reported that on the Yamuna floodplains’ area the DDA was constructing a bio-diversity park, but that work has stopped for the last 5-7 months. On the floodplains, there are lakhs of people residing and there is no way of relocating them. The bench said the DDA is a party in the main writ petition and directed it to be present on the next date of hearing on November 15.
—India Legal Bureau