Stuck projects, pending proposals in Delhi: Why MCD operations are in limbo

Scores of proposals are pending across all departments, according to officials aware of the matter.

More than six months after elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the civic body continues to remain plagued with policy paralysis that is holding up new projects and impacting the lives of residents. From the operation of a new park for dogs and a new museum in Shahjahanabad, from the clearance of layout plans for major infrastructure projects to clearing procurement of insecticides and hiring agencies for upkeep of toilet complexes, scores of proposals are pending across all departments, according to officials aware of the matter.

A senior municipal official, who asked not to be named, said that more than 70 key policy proposals have been sent by the executive wing to the municipal secretariat addressed to the standing committee. Since the panel is still not in place, all of them will remain stuck. (HT Archive)

Over this period, mayor Shelly Oberoi has been elected twice — on February 22 and April 26 and several violence-hit meetings of the house of councillors have been held. But the inability to get a standing committee and other panels in place over a bitter political tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won the civic polls, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which finished second, has kept crucial work on hold.

A senior municipal official, who asked not to be named, said that more than 70 key policy proposals have been sent by the executive wing to the municipal secretariat addressed to the standing committee. Since the panel is still not in place, all of them will remain stuck. “The last set of proposals were cleared by special officer (SO) Ashwini Kumar in January and there is a massive backlog in terms of policy formulation. Since the new councillors had already been elected, SO was only taking calls on absolutely crucial matters like the schedule of taxes, which was cleared on February 15,” the official said.

The standing committee is an 18-member body — comprising elected members and a chairman from among them — which controls the financial purse-strings of MCD. All new policy matters and proposals with a financial implication of more than ₹5 crore are presented to this panel before they are put before the house of councillors for final approval.

“There are four major categories of proposals that need the standing committee approval. These include all the layout plans for major development projects across the city that come through town planning department. The others include policy matters, proposals with a financial implication of more than ₹5 crore, and matters related to rate contract procurement of items.The municipal commissioner has the power to clear proposals up to ₹5 crore but anything above that needs standing committee approval,” the official quoted above explained.

Projects stuck

Among the backlog is the first major dog park in the city which has been developed exclusively for pets. A second municipal official aware of the matter said the park has been ready for more than five months but MCD needs to hire a private operator to run and maintain it on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The park has been developed as an “off leash” area for pets, and it will have space for pet grooming, veterinary centre, a play area, and stalls for sale of pet food and accessories. “It will also have a day shelter where pets can rest when their masters or owners are away for work. The facility will be maintained by a private player,” the second official added. The pet park will also have facilities like a dog trail, and space for running, digging, trailing and tricks.

Read: Heated discussions in MCD House over desilting of drains in Delhi

Another ambitious project to develop a Shahjahnabad museum and interpretation centre near Lahori Gate is also awaiting the panel’s approval. The civic body plans to rope in the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) for execution of specialised works for this project, a third MCD official said. The civic body has issued tenders for carrying out civil repair and electrical work in the Lahori gate heritage haveli built in 1929 where a Shajahanabad museum-cum-interpretation centre is going to be developed. The 94-year old haveli is a traditional private mansion which overlooks a square comprising lanes merging from Khari Baoli spice bazaar, Sadar Bazar, and Old Delhi Railway station.

According to the civic body’s report, the estimated cost of the work in current phase will be ₹2.5 crore. Even though it is below ₹5 crore, approval from the standing committee is required as the museum will come up on MCD heritage property. The time of completion after selection of concessionaire is around six months. The haveli was restored in 2003 but the museum project could not take off.

Among the other projects on the backlog list ate the rejuvenation of Naini Lake in Model Town, a multilevel car parking near Bharat Darshan Park, revision of the sanctioned strength of audit department, and hiring of data entry operators and contractual staff as well as a merger of MCD’s toll tax collection system with NHAI’s Fastag system to ease the commute along the Delhi borders.

The MCD impasse is also impacting the daily lives of citizens.

“There was a crisis two months back when the contracts of the data entry operators and other contractual staff had expired but there was no mechanism for extending their work duration. As a short-term measure, the contracts are being extended for a few months but this needs a permanent resolution. Similarly, MCD procures and maintains a lots of its assets like open gyms, play equipment, and procurement of medicines under a rate contract system with suppliers hired for a particular period. All rate contract systems need standing committee approval. The departments can issues tenders and select and agency but the final approval is given by the standing committee,” a fourth official said.

He added that the public health department has put up a proposal for bulk purchase of insecticides used in anti-mosquito drives. “We have stock left for only three months now and we need an adequate buffer so that no crisis takes place in the middle of monsoon season. We are good for now but if this situation continues, we may have a problem later this year.”

Read: Monsoon drainage prep in Delhi 92% complete, says PWD

The policy paralysis has also impacted developmental projects across the city because the town planning department needs mandatory sanction from the standing committee. “Over the last six months, no layout plans in the city have been cleared. There are more than 30 such projects where the layout plans of areas or roads needs to be changed. Some of these include the new residential township by DTC in Hari Nagar, the Delhi university complex in Dhaka village, and several commercial projects in Karol Bagh, among others,” a fifth official said. Section 313 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act mandates that layout plans need to be cleared by the standing committee.

Both sides blame each other for the logjam.

Mayor Shelly Oberoi did not respond to HT’s queries in the matter. The matter of the standing committee was also debated in the last house of councillor meeting on June 8, where AAP councillors as well as the leader of the house from AAP Mukesh Goyal alleged that the delay in the constitution of panel was due to the BJP illegally appointing aldermen with the help of LG.

Former South MCD mayor and BJP standing committee member Kamaljeet Sehrawat said that this is the first time such a long period of logjam is being faced in MCD. “The mayor is the face of the MCD but the executive body is standing committee. The MCD work will only start when the wards committees and standing committee are formed. This is a cruel joke with people of Delhi,” she added.

The culmination of the logjam now depends either on the constitution of wards committee, which will subsequently elect the 12 standing committee members and complete the 18-member body or the Supreme Court judgment on the legality of aldermen being appointed by LG. The top court had reserved the judgment in the matter. “In any case, the losing side will try to delay the process as long as they can. We are not expecting an early resolution in the matter,” a senior official said, asking not to named.