The Times of India  06.12.2010

NEW DELHI: The latest episode in the saga of MCD's inaction in case of unauthorized construction is of missing files.

Records of buildings regularized by a tainted junior engineer in Shahdara (south) zone are not available with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, according to senior MCD officials. The officials claimed that as many as 50 buildings were regularized by this official, some of them after termination orders were issued against him.

" The records of buildings regularized by former junior engineer (building), Shahdara (south) zone, Manoj Shah, and other officials from June to October are missing. The zonal office is trying to locate the records now. Since people paid a deposit for regularization, it should not be difficult to track down properties which were regularized during this period," said standing committee chairman, Yogender Chandolia.

Manoj Shah had been hired on contractual basis by MCD. " Several complaints were received against Manoj Shah on the basis of which he was disengaged from his contractual services," added Chandolia. Even as the process of terminating him from duty began in August, he continued to work till September and regularized several buildings during this period also, according to sources.

When MCD was questioned about these allegations , MCD commissioner K S Mehra said that the civic agency was " investigating the matter." All these matters came to light after the house collapse in Lalita Park several weeks ago. This incident claimed at least 70 lives. The civic agency is yet to submit its inquiry report on the collapse and has not initiated any action against officials in relation to the collapse . It has, however,started demolishing and sealing illegal properties all over Delhi.

" The areas where buildings were regularized during this period include Preet Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, Yojna Vihar, Krishna Nagar, P D Vihar , etc. We will now have to check if all rules and regulations were followed when these buildings were regularized by these officials," said an official.

Widespread corruption in MCD's engineering department can be gauged from the fact that in 2003, approximately seven engineers in MCD who had chargesheets against them were given promotions after being given clearance from the vigilance department. Some of these engineers are still working in MCD.

" The vigilance department had cleared these officers from vigilance angle. Later on, it was brought to the notice of authorities that criminal cases had been registered against these engineers . When this matter was taken up by the chief vigilance officer (CVO) with the economic offences wing, he was told that chargesheets had been filed against these engineers in the year 2002-2003 . The case is under trial at present," said an MCD official . The promotions of these engineers were withdrawn thereafter along with all the benefits granted to them.

" The CVO is also investigating the matter so that appropriate action could be taken against those officials who recommended the promotion and also against those officials of vigilance department who gave 'no police case report' for the subject of promotion," added the official.

The Times of India  03.12.2010

BBMP orders suspension of work on GKVK road

BANGALORE: BBMP's major standing committee chairman H Ravindra inspected the GKVK Road and has given directions to immediately stop the `unscientific' road making. BBMP has spent Rs 27 crore for formation of the road, which is now stalled due to land acquisition-related hurdles.

Over 1,800 trees were chopped inside the campus for the project, that faced vehement resistance throughout.

Convinced by the argument of locals that the road was leading nowhere, Ravindra directed the BBMP officials to immediately stop the road construction.

On December 5, a meeting with regard to the road formation will be held in which the BDA, BBMP officials, GKVK representatives, and residents living in the area will take part, Ravindra said. The outcome of the meeting will be brought to the notice of the BBMP commissioner and the mayor for future course of action.

BBMP's executive engineer B S Prahlad said: "We have constructed the road as per the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) 1999. As per the earlier plan, the road was dividing the campus into halves, which we tried avoiding by changing the route map so that the road now is in the surroundings of the campus. CDP ratification has been sent to BDA," he said.

"We did not give the land to BBMP, we had only written a letter to BBMP saying the matter was discussed at the GKVK board meeting. But BBMP took away our land despite our protests. Now, we have moved the court. The road has taken away 1,800 trees on the campus. In spite of spending crores of rupees, this road is hardly used," D Noothan, GKVK associate director, research, said.

FOOTPATHS TO SHRINK HERE

Though the road formation near GKVK is shelved, BBMP has plans to complete the road and make it pass through Canara Bank Layout. The residents of the layout approached the chairman during inspection, but their pleas went unheard. "We do not want a major road inside a residential colony. We are retired officials who have chosen to settle on the outskirts of the city and want to lead a peaceful life," Nandini Aithal, a resident, said.

Member of the major roads standing committee Ashwath Narayana Gowda told TOI that the road had to pass through the layout as there was no other choice. "Yes, the footpaths of this stretch will have to be narrowed to widen the existing road. BBMP has spent crore of rupees to make this road. Irrespective of its necessity, the road has already been half-made and the project must be completed to make vehicular movement easy towards BIA," Gowda said.

VEHICLES IN, BEES OUT

The road which swallowed up 24 acres of GKVK campus has also disturbed the bio-diversity of the park by driving away honey bees. According to D Noothan, associate director, research, at GKVK, there were 220 bee colonies cultivated on campus in 2009, which have now been reduced to a mere 80. "We are into agricultural research here, but BBMP is coming in the way of our work. With the main road coming in, the villagers of Thindlu have started using the GKVK road to reach the city. Not less than 1,000 vehicles ply through the campus every day, and this disturbs them. Besides, our work is hampered if pollination of plants is affected," Noothan said.