MCD House approves Gandhi Nagar Market revamp

The councillors, however, decided to postpone moves to levy a compensatory regulatory charge to clear building plans in south and east Delhi

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Monday cleared six proposed projects, including the revamp of the Gandhi Nagar Market and replacing sodium bulbs with 59,000 LEDs in street lights across the capital.

The MCD House meeting on Tuesday witnessed chaos over a censure motion moved against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri. (HT Photo)

According to senior MCD officials, the proposals were cleared during an MCD House meeting even as the elected councillors decided to postpone moves to levy a compensatory regulatory charge to clear building plans in south and east Delhi. The charge, if imposed, would make it costlier to construct new buildings as well as add new structures to existing buildings.

The House also deferred a decision on the education committee directly giving recognition to civic primary schools, without the House’s nod, the officials said.

The two-and-a-half hour meeting witnessed several disruptions with treasury and opposition benches raising slogans against each other over a censure motion brought by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party against South Delhi Member of Parliament Ramesh Bidhuri for his unparliamentary outburst during the recent five-day special session of the Parliament.

Mayor Shelly Oberoi said that the redevelopment of Gandhi Nagar Market in east Delhi -- India’s biggest readymade garments hub --- was the “biggest agenda” to be passed by the House on Tuesday. “There has been no work done in the Gandhi Nagar Market. We will beautify the whole market. The market will be redeveloped on the lines of Chandni Chowk. Delhi government is going to provide ₹162 crores to MCD,” the mayor said.

The House also cleared proposals relate hiring of additional manpower from Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) on contract basis and development of a waste segregation and processing facility at Banjara Mohalla, Savitri Nagar near Chirag Dilli.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved a proposal to exempt the city villages from paying house tax which was been referred to the municipal commissioner. “The commissioner will have a look at the proposal and decide whether it should be adopted or not,” an MCD official said.

Leader of the opposition Raja Iqbal Singh said the BJP raised the issues of rising dengue cases and MCD’s failure to contain the disease. “MCD does not have enough resources to control the spread of the disease. MCD is busy hiding the data related to dengue while people are suffering. We also opposed the move to impose additional charges for clearing building plans,” Singh said.

The house also passed a resolution related to the conversion of the Sodium lamps on 1440km PWD roads to LED lights. Around 59,000 high pressure sodium lights located on the 1440km arterial roads of Delhi will be converted into smart LED lights for which the Delhi government has sought the opinion of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, senior MCD officials said. The civic body’s executive wing in its official response has opined that the MCD already maintains a network of around 800,000 street lights in the inner colony roads and these lights on arterial roads should also be taken up by the civic body while seeking additional funds for their maintenance. The house of councilors approved the commissioner’s recommendations on Tuesday.

There are 59,579 high pressure sodium lights and 31,381 LED lights on these 1440 km roads which are being maintained by the PWD with annual power consumption bill worth ₹110 crore and additional ₹28 crore being spent on the maintenance every year. On June 28, 2023, the deputy secretary of PWD Anil Bhola sent a draft cabinet note to the MCD commissioner Gyanesh Bharti seeking in principle approval for replacement of all existing Sodium lights by energy efficient LED fittings.

Commissioner Bharti had written to house of councilor that the roads were handed over to the PWD for upkeep purpose on recommendation of cabinet and approval of LG but the ownership still lies with the MCD. “MCD is already having around 800,000 street lights and these 80,000 odd street lights (on PWD roads) are also considered, it is only 10% of existing strength therefore MCD should maintain these streetlights as per the provision of the DMC act however MCD may request Delhi government to provide adequate funds for this purpose,” the note had said. The proposal was carried without any amendements.

The commissioner had also forwarded a proposal from building department of the MCD which plans to significantly change its “compensatory regulatory charges” regime which is levied at the time of sanctioning a building plan for any new constructions. The move is likely to make it much more expensive to build new houses especially in South and East Delhi areas. The house has decided to postpone the proposal and it will now be taken up in the next house meeting in October.