Mundka fire: AAP, BJP trade charges over licence issued to building owner

The BJP, which runs the North corporation, was responsible for 27 deaths from the fire, AAP leader Atishi alleged, even as she demanded a probe into the role of the North corporation in issuing the licence.

The political slugfest between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Friday’s Mundka building fire intensified on Tuesday with AAP leader Atishi accusing the North Delhi Municipal Corporation of issuing a licence to building owner Manish Lakra in 2016 for carrying out commercial activities, despite the building being located in a non-conforming area. This made the BJP, which runs the North corporation, responsible for 27 deaths from the fire, the AAP leader alleged, even as she demanded a probe into the role of the North corporation in issuing the licence.

The Mundka fire is one of the worst fire incidents that Delhi has seen since the 2019 Anaj Mandi tragedy that claimed 43 lives.(Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times)

“The Mundka building is a prime example of the municipal corporation’s blatant misgovernance and corruption. We have documents that prove that the BJP-ruled North MCD permitted commercial activities from the building in Mundka even when no commercial businesses can be run in the Lal Dora Extension (non-conforming area). How did the BJP issue this licence to Manish Lakra when it was illegal to do so? The answer is clear: the BJP only has two goals -- the first is extortion and the second is to protect and support criminals and goons that the party is harbouring,” Atishi said at a press conference on Tuesday.

She further said that all around Delhi, BJP councillors are promoting unauthorised building constructions and issuing illegal licences.

The AAP MLA claimed that Lakra is associated with BJP leaders. “There is photographic evidence to show that Manish Lakra, the owner of the building which caught fire in Mundka, is a BJP leader. Over the past 15 years that the BJP has held power in the North MCD, all kinds of illegal activities have taken place with the party’s cognizance and blessings, as a result of their extortion and corruption,” Atishi said.

“AAP demands immediate investigation in the matter to find out how the BJP could give a commercial activity licence to a building located in the Lal Dora Extension. We also demand to bring to public notice all such licences which the BJP has illegally issued, and which have now pose a grave threat to the lives of those living in Delhi,” said Atishi.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor rejected Atishi’s charges and said,“The building owner misused an online scheme for self verification, which was started in 2016, and obtained a licence (in 2016). The permission for running commercial activities was revoked by the municipal corporation within a few months when it came to light that the building was located in a non-conforming area and did not fulfil the requirement for getting a licence,” Kapoor said.

The BJP leader accused the AAP of using a human tragedy for scoring political points. “The same allegations were levelled a couple of days ago by AAP leader Durgesh Pathak and now they are being repeated by Atishi who is aware that the North MCD had cancelled the licence,” said Kapoor.

Kapoor pointed out that Mundka has a AAP councillor since 2017. “If Atishi feels that unauthorised activities in Delhi can be run or stopped at a local councilor’s pleasure, then she should tell us what steps AAP Mundka councillor has taken over the past five years to check unauthorised activities in Mundka,” Kapoor said.