Inquiry into AIIMS expansion clearance

Acting on a complaint by the Hauz Khas councillor, the National Monument Authority (NMA) has ordered an inquiry into the clearance given to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for expanding its campus.

Acting on a complaint by the Hauz Khas councillor, the National Monument Authority (NMA) has ordered an inquiry into the clearance given to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for expanding its campus.

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Councillor Ankita Saini has threatened to launch an agitation with residents of Masjid Moth village if no satisfactory action is taken within a fortnight.

The NMA had in November cleared the campus expansion proposal of AIIMS at Ansari Nagar in south Delhi.

Residents of Masjid Moth village had objected to the construction, saying it was within 100 metres (prohibited area) of the protected monument Moth Ki Masjid, a 16th century Lodi-era structure.

"The map provided by the Competent Authority, Delhi, to the NMA was old and misleading. Residents and members of the Masjid Moth People's Voice Association RWA claimed they could prove that a large portion of the construction fell in the prohibited area," Saini said in her complaint.

"We have written to the Competent Authority, Delhi and the superintendent archaeologists, Delhi, to inquire into Saini's complaint," said
Pravin Srivastava, NMA member secretary.