A recent building collapse in Vishnu Garden in which five people had died has forced the Arvind Kejriwal Government to change its stand on unauthorised structures in the National Capital. The Government which had earlier ordered the municipal bodies not to take any action against unauthorised constructions without seeking prior permission from the Urban Development Minister has now directed them to immediately carry out a survey of all the unsafe buildings, the decision regarding which was taken at a high-level meeting held recently, attended by principal secretaries, secretaries and heads of departments and chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Also, the municipal bodies have been directed to ensure the stability of the buildings adjacent to unsafe structures before carrying out their demolition or digging, especially in unauthorised colonies. The task would be an uphill one for the municipal bodies in the background that many buildings are not safe in the city.
A junior engineer of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation said unauthrorised constructions was “still going on in several parts of Delhi” with the connivance of police and MCD officials. “The most worrying part is that some 90 per cent buildings don’t have completion certificates in Delhi. Proper procedures are also not being followed for the certificates being handed out. The fact is that the MCD does not have the number of junior engineers required to go and check the structural safety of buildings,” he said.
It was only three years ago that a report prepared by a commission of enquiry headed by retired justice lokeshwar Prasad had said 80 per cent of the buildings were unsafe in the city. The report, which was submitted to the Government in November 2011, was based on a survey of 10,000 buildings in East Delhi.
In its findings, the commission had said, “It has been revealed that from the point of view of earthquake disaster, most of the buildings, particularly residential ones, in the area of East Delhi are unsafe, as the entire area falls within the seismic zone IV on a scale of V.”The survey had revealed that most of the buildings, more particularly constructed in unauthorised colonies and/or unauthorised regularised colonies, were structurally unsafe as they have been constructed without following any guidelines and any prior sanction from the competent authorities.
The U-turn by the Government has left many stumped. They pointed out that it was on February 16, the Government had decided to take a holistic view on the existing policy regarding carrying out of demolitions of residential houses and jhuggies in Delhi by various agencies. In its order, the Government then had said no agency should carry out any demolitions till further instructions were issued in this regard. The order at that time, however, made it clear that it would not apply to action taken in pursuance of court orders on fresh encroachments on public places and Government land. Moreover, the city Government had also slammed the BJP-run municipal bodies and police for not acting against the unauthorised structures following the Vishnu Garden building collapse.