DDA to fix authority on illegal constructions

New Delhi, May 15

Delhi Development Authority (DDA) today proposed to fix responsibility on officials in cases of illegal construction activities in the capital and violation of the master plan and building bylaws.

The DDA placed an action plan before the Supreme Court, listing out steps, including launching of an interactive website and a smart phone application, to enable the public register their grievances regarding illegal constructions and upload photos.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Navin Sinha asked Attorney General KK Venugopal, who appeared for the DDA, to make the smart phone application operational within 15 days.

During the hearing, Venugopal told the bench that it is considered that the police is supposed to be the “most corrupt”, however, there is rampant corruption in the DDA too and stringent measures are required to curb it.

In a five-page action plan, the DDA has said that it intends to check all ongoing and future unauthorised constructions in the city under the supervision of a special task force (STF) which was constituted on April 25 following an apex court order.

The STF has been set up to oversee the enforcement of laws on unauthorised constructions in the city.

The DDA has also told the court that a "grid" of officers has been prepared who shall be held accountable for all future illegal constructions. "It shall be the responsibility of the officers in the grid to check in their areas of jurisdiction, all construction activities to determine the nature whether the same are illegal or unauthorised," the action plan said.

It also fixes the responsibility on the concerned officers in the grid, consisting of 31 officers from different civic agencies and DDA, in case no timely remedial action is taken on the complaints regarding illegal constructions.

If timely action is not taken, it would be presumed that such activity has been undertaken in connivance with the officer responsible for the respective area, it said. — PTI