Civic bodies lawless, reckless: High court

NEW DELHI: Expressing displeasure over the "sorry state of affairs" concerning municipal governance in the capital, the Delhi high court has slammed the civic agencies and local bodies for showing "lawlessness and recklessness" in their work.
"The facts that have transpired during hearing of instant writ petition show a complete lawlessness and recklessness in municipal governance in Delhi by Delhi Development Authority, the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (now the South Delhi Municipal Corporation) and the Public Works Department of the government of NCT of Delhi," said a division bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Jayant Nath.
The court made these observations while hearing a writ petition filed by Zamrudpur Welfare Association, seeking a direction against the civic agencies including, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and DDA, to ensure proper traffic movement in the Zamrudpur Community Centre area and to quash a decision passed by the screening committee of DDA which approved the use of an adjoining community hall site as a barat ghar.
While directing authorities to restore Nandi Vithi Marg to a uniform width of 60 feet "at the first instance" and remove all encroachments which come in its way, except for the pending matters before the trial court, the court also slammed the Public Grievances Commission for not solving the problems of the residents. "The facts show that it is useless for the government to constitute committees because members of the committees are just not interested in solving problems, or lack the will to do so or probably lack the intelligence to comprehend issues which confront them," the bench said.
The petition had claimed that there was encroachment happening on the road near the community centre area which led to traffic hazards. When the court examined the layout plan provided by the petitioner, it noted that there was no clarity whether there had been any approved changes in the plan after 1965.
The court also said the proceedings before the Public Grievances Commission should be revived "with a direction to the commission to pass further directions after ascertaining the record in light of the observations made concerning the right of way of various roads in Zamrudpur". The HC also asked the Public Grievances Commission to issue suitable directions to authenticate and freeze the approved layout plan of the Zamrudpur Complex and ensure that the same is notified to the public as required by the Delhi Development Act, 1957.