New Delhi: The Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) held a nearly three-hour meeting on Thursday, during which councillors from both the treasury and opposition benches raised issues concerning illegal PG accommodations, encroachments and sanitation.
During the meeting, the committee cleared 41 policy proposals and deferred 11 put up before it.
The proposals cleared included biomining and bioremediation at Okhla, Bhalswa; fresh waste processing plants; constitution of town vending committees; and establishment of a series of biogas plants with the National Dairy Development Board.
At the start of the meeting, several committee members from both the ruling BJP and the opposition AAP flagged the uneven distribution of sanitation workers across wards in Delhi.
Hemchand Goel, a committee member, said that while some wards have over 700 sanitation workers, others have 80 to 90.
“There are five wards in Badarpur which have fewer sanitation workers than a single ward like Jangpura,” he said.
Members from Najafgarh and Narela also flagged that rural wards in Delhi have disproportionately fewer sanitation workers.
Standing committee chairperson Satya Sharma directed that a new rationalisation yardstick be formed based on a ward’s area, roads and drains.
{{/usCountry}}Standing committee chairperson Satya Sharma directed that a new rationalisation yardstick be formed based on a ward’s area, roads and drains.
{{/usCountry}}Other issues raised included illegal play schools, encroachments on roads, stray animals, and maintenance of parks and other civic amenities.
Sharma warned that accountability would be fixed if public-interest issues raised at the zonal level remained unresolved or were unnecessarily kept pending.
The chairperson directed all deputy commissioners to survey dilapidated and unsafe buildings in their respective zones. “The condition of such structures is to be reviewed regularly and action taken within prescribed rules wherever necessary,” she added.
The committee also directed officials to prepare zone-wise lists of regular, temporary, and contractual sanitation workers.
AAP member Praveen Kumar flagged the case of alleged illegalities in sub-leasing of shops in Chandni Chowk mall cum parking facility. He alleged that the mall operator was selling shops and subleasing units without permission from the MCD House Committee and Standing Committee.
Countering the allegations, an MCD official said that the exercise was being carried out as per the agreement signed with a private company in 2018.
Committee members also discussed the issue of lack of security guards in MCD parks, citing a recent gangrape case near Kalkaji. Committee member Jagmohan Mahlawat said MCD has 15,000 parks without any guard arrangements.
“Deploying guards at such a large scale in two shifts will need investment of Rs700 crores. We should explore setting up kiosks in parks in lieu of providing security in the parks. It will ensure more footfall, illumination and better security,” he opined.
The committee postponed decisions in 11 cases, while referring one back, including proposed changes to the outdoor advertisement policy to allow large billboards on flyovers and a change in the land use of plots near the Delhi BJP office on DDU Marg.