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MCD to lose grip on new buildings

Staff Reporter

Owner who constructs a building will not be required to approach MCD

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Cabinet on Monday approved a draft of the Municipal Corporation (2nd Amendment) Bill, 2007, according to which an owner who constructs a building will not be required to approach the MCD either for sanction of building plan or for obtaining building use permit or completion or occupancy certificates. This would usher in an era of hassle-free construction with transparency and openness, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said following the meeting.

Ms. Dikshit, who chaired the meeting, said another feature of the Bill was that the Government proposes to vest itself with full powers in the matter of building regulations. The draft would now be submitted to the Lieutenant-Governor to be forwarded to the Union Government for approval. It seeks to replace two chapters of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, namely Chapter XVI on building regulations and Chapter XXI on improvements.

The new version of Chapter XVI contains provisions considered necessary to accord the requisite legal backup for promulgating new building by-laws in Delhi. The new by-laws will be finalised after the amendments to Chapter XVI have been legislated. The basic thrust of the revised version of Chapter XVI is to promote self-regulation by casting responsibility for erecting a building in accordance with prescribed by-laws on the shoulders of the owner and the architect on record.

Market intelligence cell

The Cabinet has also decided to set up a Market Intelligence and Forecasting Cell in the Food and Supplies Department as part of an effective mechanism to control rising prices of food items in Delhi.

Ms. Dikshit said the cell would compute the arrival data in respect of each commodity on a daily basis and compare it with the quantity and prices for the same period in the last two years and study the impact on prices of natural and unnatural calamities in the areas of production.

The cell, headed by a consultant, would also collect comprehensive information on each commodity, maintain international trends, establish a price trend and its dependant factors, and forecast the price trend if one factor changes, keeping the others constant, she added.

The cell would collect and analyse information while taking into account all factors affecting production and transportation of food items like rice, pulses, fresh fruits, potato, fish, wheat, fresh vegetable, onion, milk and poultry.

The mandate of the cell would be enlarged to include other items at a later stage.

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