For a new Capital with old civic concerns

The beginnings of the New Delhi Municipal Council were made only a couple of years after Delhi was proclaimed as India’s new capital (in 1911). HT rediscovers.

The beginnings of the New Delhi Municipal Council were made only a couple of years after Delhi was proclaimed as India’s new capital (in 1911).

It was in March 1913 that the Imperial Delhi Committee was formed. The British had decided that the control of construction and management of the new Capital shouldn’t be entrusted to the local authority — the Delhi Municipality.

In 1916, the Raisina Municipal Committee was formed, which got the right to impose tax on buildings only by 1925. The committee was renamed New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC) after the Capital was officially christened ‘New Delhi’ in 1927.

At that time, NDMC, which at present caters to one of the prime areas of the Capital, was only responsible for catering to the sanitation requirements of construction workers who were building the capital. By 1931, the committee was expected to take care of buildings, roads, sewers, medical and public health arrangements in its area.

NDMC’s major function remained providing facilities to government buildings in its area. In 1932, electricity distribution and water supply also became the civic body’s responsibility.

Initially operating from rented offices, NDMC finally got its own headquarters — Town Hall — in the early 1930s. This beautiful building was demolished in the 1970s to make way for the present Palika Kendra, which had the distinction of being one of the tallest buildings in Delhi for many years.

The New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC) was superseded in February 1980. Thereafter, an Administrator headed it till the introduction of a new Act in May 1994.

In May 1994, the NDMC Act 1994 replaced the Punjab Municipal Act 1911 and the Committee was renamed as the New Delhi Municipal Council.