New Delhi, Taking serious note of the unauthorised stalls on roads near Metro stations, the Supreme Court monitoring committee on sealing action and retrieval of government land has asked Delhi’s PWD Secretary to ensure removal of these encroachments and submit an ATR.
The panel found that unauthorised stalls by way of encroachment on roadside are running especially near and under Metro stations, mostly on PWD roads. These are causing hindrance in the free movement of pedestrians.
The Supreme Court monitoring committee on sealing action in Delhi has also directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to take urgent action for removal of unauthorised encroachers in Pilanji village in Sarojini Nagar.
The committee noted that the DDA and government land situated in the back lanes and side lanes of government flats of A and X blocks in Sarojini Nagar has been encroached illegally by the villagers of Pilanji, Sarojini Nagar and multi-storeyed unauthorised constructions have been carried out in connivance with the engineers of the DDA and the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council).
“Despite persuasions of the Monitoring Committee, nothing concrete has been done by the authorities towards demarcation of the boundary of the Pilanji village in light of the notifications in 1974 and 1975 by the DDA and retrieval of encroached land from the encroachers.
“This is a very serious issue which needs to be dealt on priority,” the committee said.
The Vice Chairman of the DDA and the Chairman, NDMC have been directed to take immediate steps for removal of unauthorised construction and retrieval of government land with the help of the police. The officials have also been asked to contemplate appropriate disciplinary proceedings against the delinquent officials of the DDA and the NDMC as well as criminal proceedings against the encroachers.
An action taken report (ATR) is to be submitted within a month.
There are differences between the various departments on the issue of Defence Colony market. While the L&DO officer submitted that the conditions of the original lease have been suitably rectified according to which the upper floor shall also be allowed for commercial purposes as commercial charges have already been realised from the occupants, the DDA Vice Chairman and SDMC Commissioner both objected and were of the view that the applicants/owners have to pay user conversion charges for the upper floor.
The monitoring committee has also directed that the atriums in the malls are free from any sort of encroachment and commercial activities.
The panel has noted that a number of stalls are being leased out in violation of the Master Plan for fetching monthly charges, which may be a hindrance in case of fire.
The panel has also directed that the basements of the malls be checked for permitted use and any violations will be sealed after due process of law.
In the allotment of plots in Sector 7, Dwarka, the panel has found major violations of the Master Plan including how amalgamation of plots have been carried out. The Divisional Commissioner of the Delhi government has been asked to carry out suitable action.
