Demolish the MCD

It's just as well that the Delhi High Court has finally taken notice of a situation that nobody seemed to be particularly bothered about. In a previous editorial on the ongoing demolition of illegal structures in the capital, we had raised a point that had been rather vexing to us.

It's just as well that the Delhi High Court has finally taken notice of a situation that nobody seemed to be particularly bothered about. In a previous editorial on the ongoing demolition of illegal structures in the capital, we had raised a point that had been rather vexing to us. It appears that down the years, citizens had bribed their way into constructing illegal structures and setting up establishments not allowed in the municipal rule book. That these bribe-givers are today getting their just deserts ought to be reassuring for law-abiding citizens who do not wish to see their city turned into a full-blown holds-no-barred urban jungle. But a niggling question remains: what about the bribe-takers? Given the alleged scale of the problem, one doesn't have to be a Hercule Poirot to know that this someone happens to be virtually the entire Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

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The high court has come down heavily on the MCD's unwillingness — for inability suggests an attempt — to take action against the corrupt engineers in its fold who had given clean chits for illegal structures to come up in the first place. No wonder the MCD had to be literally pushed to take action against illegal constructions — rather than doing a job that it is supposed to anyway. There might be a murmur of dissent from within the MCD citadel: it's easy to spot the owner or constructor of an illegal structure; harder to track down the official who allowed it to happen. Hogwash, says the court. The fact that unauthorised buildings exist is evidence enough to take action against the errant officials of the MCD.

Among its many other invisible functions, the MCD's job is to prevent illegal constructions. Not only has it failed to stop that for years, it has actually fed and nurtured illegal constructions for its own interests. The MCD will ask why blame an institution because of some rotten apples in its fold. Stapled to the observation that it clearly isn't a case of 'a few' corrupt officials, we ask a more serious question: what is the need for the MCD to exist?