Govt rewarding illegal units, says SC amicus

NEW DELHI: Death of 12 persons in the Vishwas Nagar fire should be a wake-up call for Delhi government. Experts say the residential colony continues to be a ticking time-bomb due to the unchecked growth of industries in the area.
Amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar, who has been assisting the Supreme Court on the issue of relocation of industries from non-conforming to conforming areas, blames the lackadaisical approach of the Delhi government and its attempt to circumvent the apex court orders on the issue for the situation.Kumar says the government has become used to rewarding illegalities.
Kumar criticises the government for its six-month old decision to convert 16 residential areas into industrial as per the new norms in the amended Master Plan of 2001.
Although the government was interested in converting 24, it got a nod for just 10 from the Lieutenant-Governor. "They still went ahead and added six more to the list," he says.
This move would have in normal course called for contempt of the apex court's order since the Supreme Court had last year turned down the Delhi government's plea to convert 24 residential colonies into industrial areas.
The court had, in fact, asked the government to submit an affidavit on the status of industries in these colonies. Instead of filing an affidavit, the government immediately announced their conversion as soon as the Master Plan was amended.
Kumar accused Delhi government of rewarding people indulging in illegal activities. "What do you regularise? One regularises something which is incorrect or not as per the law. Delhiites have learnt to flout the law and are awarded by the Chief Minister or the government," he says.
According to him, the government should have by now removed all the industrial units from colonies. The apex court had passed the order on May 7, 2004.
The Delhi government is supposed to file a progress report after every three months. "The last report stated that Delhi government had relocated close to 2,300 industries. The process is moving at a snail's pace and that is why one has to witness tragedies like Vishwas Nagar," says Kumar.
He feels the government will initiate steps if only Supreme Court takes the call to issue contempt against the authorities and officers concerned.
"The matter has got ignored as the apex court is monitoring commercial activity in residential colonies. The next date of hearing in the case is in January which shall be interesting since the amendment of Master Plan 2001 has also become a subject of challenge before the apex court," Kumar adds.