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Delhi HC says civic administration in capital has collapsed: 'Political class busy selling slogans'
The high court said that politicians were neither collecting nor spending money for the city's development.
The Delhi High Court on Friday criticised authorities for their failure to upgrade the city infrastructure while underlining that civic administration had collapsed and the political class was busy “selling slogans”, PTI reported.
A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said that politicians were neither collecting nor spending money for the city's development and were only spending on freebies that would not build any infrastructure.
"They are only spending it on freebies. Freebies will not make your infrastructure; they will only ensure that you remain where you are. Today, the only thing the political class is doing is selling slogans, and we are buying it," it remarked, according to PTI.
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The court made the remarks while hearing a plea by the residents of JJ cluster Madrasi Camp at Jangpura against the eviction notice while seeking rehabilitation.
During the hearing, the bench noted that Delhi was reeling through one crisis to another and that within a year the city has faced drought, floods and severe pollution levels.
"Look at what we have gone through this year. First we had a situation of drought and people were going on fast saying there is no water, then there was flooding and people lost their lives. Then look at this pollution and AQI level," the bench remarked.
"Just look at what the city is going through. It is going from one crisis to another, and it requires very serious management," it added, according to PTI.
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The court went on to say the political establishment was not hearing the affected parties but only listening to those creating the problem.
"We as the citizens have to take a call whether the city can accommodate 3.3 crore people or not. Do we have the infrastructure for 3.3 crore people or not? That's the fundamental issue which needs to be decided. We cannot be at 3.3 crore population and still grow without the expenditure or infrastructure. We need a huge outlay on expenditure. We don't have it," the bench said.
The court further expressed its displeasure, saying that the city administration was not performing its duties and that the entire burden was on the judiciary.
"We have got a very inefficient system and all the organisations are working in silos. The entire load is coming to the judiciary. We are not supposed to be taking care of drains and unauthorised constructions, but half of the day we are doing this which is not our job. This has to be done by the administration," it said, reported PTI.
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The residents of Madrasi Camp in the Old Barapullah Bridge area are facing eviction to make way for the construction of a new flyover.
In September, the Delhi government's PWD pasted eviction notices in the area, asking locals to vacate their homes but the residents claimed they had lived in the neighbourhood for over 50 years and demanded an alternative site.
