After planning a strategy to garner the support of slum dwellers, the Delhi BJP’s next focus is on wooing the voters of Delhi’s unauthorised colonies. Eyeing the impending Assembly polls in the Capital, the saffron party now plans to use the Clean India campaign pitch in order to provide facilities to the dwellers of unauthorised colonies.
In a first, the city’s BJP-led three civic bodies: North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations are planning to propose a special Budget allocation solely for the upkeep and maintenance of cleanliness in these colonies in its Budget session scheduled for January. Besides, while the civic bodies are planning not to hike taxes in the Budget, it is planning to introduce amnesty schemes like penalty waiver for defaulters.
The corporations are
planning to propose allocation of Rs20 lakh per ward for the unauthorised colonies. Under the municipal corporation alone, there are 272 unauthorised wards. NDMC and SDMC together have 104 unauthorised wards each, while East has 64 such wards. For the cleanliness drive alone, the civic agency would have to allocate approximately Rs54 crore for the
unauthorised colonies falling under the jurisdiction of the civic bodies to procure auto tippers, garbage trucks, safai
karamcharis, among others.
Till present, funds for such works are being allocated through the MlA local Area Development (MlAlAD) fund. “It would be the first time that the civic agencies would put its money to use exclusively for the development of unauthorised colonies through the corporations. Otherwise the usual practice is that the local legislators use their MlAlAD funds for such activities in these colonies. Hence, for the upcoming Budget, we are planning to allocate a funds dedicated for cleaning drive,” said Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay who is also a councillor in the South Corporation. The three corporations are expected to present their Budget in mid-January.
Most of these unauthorised colonies in the city are facing issues related to garbage and
sanitation apart from other areas in the whole city. “Special
focus on these colonies means taking the cleanliness of the whole city into consideration,” added Upadhyay.