Delhi Government’s high-powered committee headed by Principal Secretary (Home) has been revived to keep tabs on illegal constructions in Sainik Farms.
Interestingly this committee was lying defunct but was revived two months ago and has been mandated to crack down on any construction that is illegal. The Principal Secretary (Home) Archna Arora has directed the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to carry out physical inspection twice a week and impose heavy penalty on owners wherever unauthorised construction is found. local police has been directed to take action against trucks and other vehicles carrying construction materials.
The committee has requisitioned the services of an agency for providing the map of Sainik Farms five years ago and now. The Deputy Commissioner has also been directed to install CCTV cameras to keep check on unauthorised construction. The committee headed by Principal Secretary (Home) was constituted to enquire into rampant unauthorised construction in Sainik Farms by Urban Development Department. A similar committee was constituted by erstwhile Congress-led Delhi Government three years ago to check unauthorised construction in Sainik Farms.
“Heavy penalty may be imposed summarily on the owner wherever unauthorised construction is noticed and demolishing recovery charge should be from the owner,” read the minutes of the meeting between Delhi Government and other agencies. Sources said that the committee has been asked to take evidence on ground with respect to ongoing and already completed unauthorised constructions that need to be established with periodical data received from Geospatial Delhi limited and Google Earth Maps. The Home Department has also directed to collect the report of unauthorised constructions prepared from time to time by the SHO (Neb Sarai) and submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Police for evaluating the nature and extent of unauthorised constructions already completed within the cut off date of November 20, 2012.
It has also been told to determine the exact number of properties in the total area of Sainik Farms in which unauthorised construction has been noticed since November 20, 2012. The Home Department has also directed to identify persons, including officials of MCD, police and other government agencies, responsible for unauthorised construction.
It may be noted that Urban Development Ministry had moved a Cabinet note in August last year to regularise the three “affluent unauthorised” colonies, including Sainik Farms. After the PMO raised objections, the proposal has been shelved for now. Just before the Assembly elections in Delhi, the UD Ministry had sought to move the Cabinet, particularly to regularise these three colonies. The proposal, which had been hanging fire for several years, was fast-tracked last year at the insistence of the then UD Minister Kamal Nath. In 2006, a committee headed by former Delhi Chief Secretary KK Mathur submitted a report, suggesting hefty regularisation charges for these colonies but it was rejected by the Ministry.