Firm decisions needed to make Delhi liveable: Puri

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17

Reacting to demands of ordinance by opposition parties to stop sealing drive in Delhi, the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri said that situation needed firm decisions to make the city a liveable place even if the measures attract brickbats from some quarters.

He said Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had every right to amend the Master Plan 2021 to solve the problems of Delhi, even as he held the previous governments at the Centre and state responsible for the situation in the capital.

The government has analysed the problems which have arisen due to sealing and its causes, said Puri stressing on the need for amendments. The minister said that the Master Plan had already been amended around 248 times.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the city has demanded an ordinance to stop the drive, while the Congress has accused the Centre and the state government for "inappropriate" handling of the situation. In any democracy, Puri said there was a "tendency to play victim and highlight victimhood".

On reduction of conversion charges from Rs 89,000 to Rs 22,000, the minister said there was no takers for such a high conversion charge and only two parties came forward to avail it since 2012. He said traders' bodies had submitted representations to him demanding a reduction in conversion charges.

Puri said he would meet Kejriwal on Monday to discuss the issues related to the capital, especially the sealing drive and the DMRC Phase IV project.