The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday alleged corruption in the Building Department of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and walked out of the meeting of the House.
Ramesh Matiala, the leader of the Opposition in the SDMC, alleged that the nominated member of the House, B.S. Joon, had asked the civic body to present some details around three months ago, “but it refused to present the replies to hide its corruption”.
Mr. Matiala said that the Opposition has asked for details about the number of buildings that have been reconstructed in the areas where demolition drives were conducted.
“The municipality is a government agency. Everything that is done needs to have proper records. They said they do not have any record of the reconstructed buildings. How can that be,” he asked.
Another question that was put before the corporation was regarding the details of the action taken against the sealing orders on illegal properties in the Najafgarh zone in the last two years. For this too, there was apparently no record available.
‘Unsatisfactory’ replies
The Opposition alleged that repeated reminders were sent to the department to avail the details, but they have been receiving unsatisfactory replies.
“The Building Department is the most corrupt department in the SDMC. They take money to pull down buildings and sanction constructions. This is a ploy for covering up their functioning,” Mr. Matiala alleged.
The AAP demanded the resignation of the SDMC commissioner and the Mayor. It also demanded that the questions and the lack of replies be looked into.
The south Delhi Mayor, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, said that obstructing the functioning of the House was uncalled for. “If the opposition was unsatisfied with the replies they received it should have brought it to the notice of the House and I would have asked the department head to give it a reply then or would have stipulated a time for the opposition to get the details. Obstructing the House and walking out is no way to go about things,” she said.
In the past four years, 13,772 properties have been identified as illegal in south Delhi, out of which 6,568 have been demolished and 2,134 sealed while there has been no action against 5,070, Mr. Matiala alleged.
