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30 MCD officials under cloud to be moved out of Building dept

Friday, 10 December 2010 11:00 administrator
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Indian Express         10.12.2010

30 MCD officials under cloud to be moved out of Building dept

Express News Service Tags : Municipal Corporation of Delhi, MCD, Jagdish Mamgain, Chairman of the MCD Works Committee Posted: Fri Dec 10 2010, 00:14 hrs

New Delhi:  In A move aimed at removing corruption in its Building Department, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to transfer 30 MCD ‘tainted’ officials to other departments.

In a high-level meeting of the civic body held recently, it was decided that officials who have corruption or criminal charges against them should be asked to shift to ‘less sensitive’ departments in order to keep the dealings between the agency and the Capital’s property owners clean said Jagdish Mamgain, Chairman of the MCD Works Committee. The move follows the civic body receiving complaints of officials demanding bribes from property owners, he added.

The civic body had planned to remove the officials last year but could not go ahead with the plan as some of the officials were backed by politicians, Mamgain said. “Last year, certain politicians wanted to retain some of the officials, and it seemed unfair to terminate some and spare others. This time, there will be no relaxation and all 30 will be asked to leave,” he said.

The officials will be removed in a week, following which the civic body will keep an eye out for such officials. There are 150 officials in the Building department of MCD.

On Thursday, the agency also discussed that the ongoing demolition drive should focus on unsafe buildings and buildings that are more than 15 metres in height. At present, the sealing drive is targeting buildings that are sub-divided or compoundable, creating panic in MCD colonies. Subdivided buildings are properties that have been divided into two parts without taking the agency’s permission, while compoundable buildings are those which are up to 15 metres high but have been built without approved building plans.

According to Mamgain, these two categories of buildings can be legalised through a registration procedure and should hence be spared at present. “There are one lakh properties that are subdivided or compoundable. Since the MCD cannot demolish all of them, they should focus on dangerous buildings,” he said.

 

3 yrs after expiry, PMC seeks another extension for plan

Friday, 10 December 2010 10:37 administrator
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Indian Express          10.12.2010

3 yrs after expiry, PMC seeks another extension for plan

Ajay Khape Tags : Pune Municipal Corporation, new development plan Posted: Fri Dec 10 2010, 02:15 hrs

Corporation

Pune:  Despite efforts to speed up the work on preparation of its new development plan (DP), the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has sought another one-year extension till December 2011 for completing the work that it should have completed by 2007.

The civic body has to get approval for the DP for its jurisdiction for 20 years as per the Mahrashtra Region Town Planning Act, 1966. The tenure of the DP for the city, approved in 1987, had expired in 2007. The PMC, however, declared its intention of revising the DP in December 2007, which meant it got two more years for preparation of the draft plan.

The PMC had to seek extension from the state government with the work not finished till December 2009, but it applied for it only in February 2010. Though an extension of one year was given till December 2010, the civic body has again failed to complete the work on draft DP on time. “The process for revision of the DP has been initiated and the land use survey work needs more time to be considered for the new DP. Thus, it is necessary to extend the tenure for preparing the final draft DP by an year till December 2011,” municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade said in the proposal.

The civic body had, in October, set up a dedicated cell for revision of DP with city engineer Prashant Waghmare in charge and delegated his routine work to additional city engineer Vivek Kharwadkar.

Zagade had said, in the administrative order, that the revised DP should have come into existence by 2007 as soon as the 20-year term of the DP prepared in 1987 expired. He said the notification for the revision of DP was published in December 2007 and accordingly, the maps of land use should have been ready in six months but they have not been prepared even after 33 months and added that the draft of the revised DP should have been completed in two years of notification so that objections and suggestions of citizens could have been invited. 

“Any delay in DP means denial of civic amenities to public,” said activist Satish Khot of National Society of Clean Cities (NSCC), adding that the work for the revised DP should have started four-five years earlier than 2007. “The civic administration has started working on it only now. Also, they should ensure the time-bound implementation of DP for the next 20 years as not even half of it gets implemented usually.”

Though the PMC has been seeking extension for preparation of the revised DP, it is not mandatory for the state government to accept it. The government can instead entrust the responsibility to any officer. The development plan sets rules for residential, commercial properties, schools, hospitals, markets, roads, water bodies, sports grounds and cultural halls.

 

MCD sealing drive draws Lalita Park residents’ ire

Thursday, 09 December 2010 10:41 administrator
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Hindustan Times  09.12.2010

MCD sealing drive draws Lalita Park residents’ ire

 
Violence prevailed in Lalita Park on Wednesday, when residents allegedly manhandled the area councillor during an MCD sealing drive. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to cut the water and electricity supply of all illegal buildings in the area, which invited the wrath of the residents. The civic agency is planning to take action against 683 buildings.

MCD officials sealed portions of 19 buildings in Lalita Park, where a building collapsed last month, killing 72 people. “Only the fourth or fifth floors of buildings, which stood above the permissible height of 15 metres have been targeted,” said a senior MCD official on the condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

However, the drive was marred by violence when a group of residents allegedly manhandled MCD councillor Sohan Lal in a parking lot in Lalita Park.

Police said a case has been registered in connection with the incident. Another group of locals, meanwhile, staged a protest on the busy Vikas Marg, blocking traffic for some time.

The civic agency has asked the owners of 638 buildings in Shahdara South Zone to conduct structural safety checks of their houses and apply for regularisation. Around 19 structures were demolished at Shahdara South Zone. The MCD has swooped into action with renewed vigour following after the Lalita Park incident.

Last Updated on Thursday, 09 December 2010 10:43
 
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