The Times of India    23.08.2012

Lal dora out of today’s Gurgaon municipality house meet agenda

GURGAON: The tussle between the mayor and the executive wing of the MCG has again come to the forefront with the latter refusing to include an issue raised by the mayor in the final agenda that has been prepared for Thursday's house meeting.

The mayor had asked the municipal corporation officials to include the lal dora issue in the agenda so that it can be discussed and if needed, a proposal can be passed in the House meeting and further send to the state government for necessary approvals.

However, according to sources, the MCG authorities decided not to include the matter in the agenda. Sources say that this was deliberately done as the lal dora is a controversial subject.

"The lal dora is a highly debatable topic and not many are sure about the legality of houses located in and around this area. While the municipal act seems to suggest that some houses and commercial establishments are illegal as their building plans have not been sanctioned by the MCG, others claim they should not be treated illegal as they were built on panchayat land. It has been noticed that the officials harass these residents claiming their houses are built illegally. Therefore the mayor wanted to have a debate in the House on this topic. However, the MCG officials seem to be skeptical about including the topic in the agenda," said a source.

MCG officials though seem to suggest that the item could not be included as the agenda was finalized before the mayor suggested the issue. They say they will include it in the next House meeting and claim the mayor can call for a debate in the House meeting on Thursday even if the item is not there in the agenda.

"I am not sure why the lal dora has not been included in the agenda. One thing is for sure that the MCG officials keep sending notices of demolition to these helpless residents whose houses and commercial buildings are located in and around the lal dora area. I will take up the issue in the House meeting on Thursday," said mayor Vimal Yadav.

The Hindu    23.08.2012

Vision document ready; council awaits guidelines

The city Corporation is still awaiting the State government’s guidelines regarding fund allocation and subsidies for the various schemes that the local body is envisaging as part of its 12th Five-Year Plan.

The recommendations made during a development seminar on August 18 will be examined and woven into the draft on August 23, when a meeting of the 19 working groups has been scheduled. Saturday’s seminar involved ward-level officials to scrutinise the report and offer suggestions.

“We cannot elucidate on the specifics of the plan without getting the allocation finalised by the government. Currently, what we have is a vision document identifying areas that needs work and we have also estimated the financial input required,” Corporation coordinating officer Ravindran Nair said.

He added that the Corporation had so far performed as per schedule, appointing the working groups, creating a draft plan, conducting a seminar — all for finalising the Five-Year perspective plan for 2012-2017, in addition to the annual 2012-2013 plan and the two-year rolling plan for 2012-2014. The new guidelines seek to make the implementation process more effective and cut down the time taken in formulating yearly programmes.

“In 2007, there were instances where certain programmes were fixed, but the government did not grant approval or the necessary subsidies, leading to the cancellation of a few schemes,” said Mr. Nair, emphasising that it was necessary to look through such details in the formulating period itself.

Suggestions put forth during the discussion held on Saturday included developing online facilities for zonal offices and cleaning up of ponds in the city. The meeting also addressed a lack of financial support envisaged for a few sectors, including agriculture, public works, and sports, Mr. Nair said.

As per government guidelines, each working group consists of a maximum of 17 members. This step will be followed by further scrutiny by the standing committees and the steering committee, before the council gives the final nod for the development plan.