City turns to court against illegal buildings

Bhadra Sinha / TNN / Nov 18, 2005, 02:23 IST

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Illegal construction has spread like a cancer from Pitampura in the west to posh south Delhi localities like GK.

City turns to court against illegal buildings

NEW DELHI: In the face of illegal constructions mushrooming in their neighbourhood, residents hardly had any choice but to suffer and bear. Silently. Now, the high court has come to the aid of residents with hammer and tongs.
A bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma has asked the registrar general to club all PILs against unauthorised constructions for being listed before it.
And it has ordered the MCD to prepare a list of executive engineers where unauthorised construction continues unabated.
Illegal construction has spread like a cancer from Pitampura in the west to posh south Delhi localities like Greater Kailash and Defence Colony, and residents here are fighting their way out in the high court against builders and "corrupt" MCD officials.

Here's a list of some important cases pending before the court:
Greater Kailash, Part-I: The story of commercialisation in GK-I began with an innocuous petition against one building.
"There are others in the area. Why is the petitioner targeting just me?" is what the owner of the said building told the court.
Sensing the seriousness of the issue, Justice Pradeep Nandrajog extended the scope of the petition and converted it into a PIL.

Construction work at more than 12 buildings was stopped and recently cricketer Kapil Dev's building was sealed. So were two showrooms of a Maruti dealer.
Says Rakesh Tikku, one of the advocates: "The petitioner was forced to approach the court because the MCD officials were not listening to him. They were favouring those who indulged in illegal activities."
Greater Kailash-II: The rapid commercialisation here forced residents to approach the court in May. Their petition says, "The change of user from residential to commercial is totally illegal and unauthorised.
The MCD is duty bound to perform their statutory obligations. They have, however, miserably failed in preventing the misuse of residential properties."
Residents add that "commercialisation is leading to severe traffic congestion, air and noise pollution in the colony."
MCD's standing counsel Anup Bagai says the MCD has already conducted a survey of the colony following a list submitted by the RWA to the court.
"We first plan to take action against those buildings, especially showrooms, where unauthorised construction has taken place," he adds.
Vasant Vihar: When the MCD failed to contain unauthorised construction, the RWA walked the legal course. More than 10 buildings have already faced the MCD bulldozer.
Besides, Justice Nandrajog has tightened the noose around MCD officials and building owners. In an unusual order, Justice Nandrajog has also issued notice to an architect, asking him to explain why he permitted largescale illegal deviation in a property while it was under construction in the colony.
The property in question is for residential purpose, but its structure and design is that of a commercial building.
Bagai says: "Justice Nandrajog also directed BSES Rajdhani Power Limited not to grant permanent electricity connection to 47 properties in Vasant Vihar whose owners have not furnished completion certificate to the zonal engineer of the building department."
Defence Colony: Residents have approached the court claiming the MCD has failed to prevent the misuse of properties here.
Residents say the new buildings coming up in the area, appearing to be for commercial use, do not display a board giving details of the size of the plot, its dimensions and the architect's name.
"As per the MCD's law, this board has to be put up outside the residential plots undergoing new construction," their petition says. A list of such buildings has been placed before the court.
MCD's standing counsel Ashok Bhasin says the civic body has already carried out demolition work in the area after a survey. "We are first taking action against residential buildings where owners have done excess coverage," he adds.
Rajouri Garden: This colony has witnessed a lot of action after resident and advocate, Anjana Gosain, filed a PIL. Gosain says: "It's the responsibility of the citizens to ensure civic authorities do not falter in their duties.
Why do we break rules to give them an opportunity to make a fast buck at our cost." At the moment the PIL on commercialisation has got diverted, as Gosain is trying to get another problem of the colony solved, bad and unkept roads.
The PIL, however, has led to the sealing of commercial buildings. But the MCD cannot initiate sealing action at the moment, says Bhasin.
"The matter is pending before the Supreme Court and we are hoping that MCD will get back its power of sealing commercial buildings. If the MCD is empowered with this law, the city will surely witness a change," he adds.

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