The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleged that BJP-led municipalities are looting the people of Delhi by allowing unauthorised constructions and taking bribes in return.
Senior AAP leader Dilip Pandey said that the party had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) with the Delhi High Court against the South Delhi Municipal Corporation in this regard.
“Under the garb of taking action against illegal and unauthorised construction, the municipalities are encouraging large-scale corruption. The leaders of the BJP have created a parallel economy of graft though the civic agencies, looting the hard earned money of Delhi residents,” Mr. Pandey said.
Huge gap
He added that the evidence of the BJP’s alleged wrongdoings came to light after the leader of the opposition of SDMC, Ramesh Matiala, asked the civic body commissioner to provide details on the number of unauthorised constructions, and the sealed and demolished structures in the last three years.
“The response shows that there is a huge gap between the number of properties identified and the number of properties sealed and demolished,” Mr. Pandey said.
He added that the SDMC was unable to provide complete information on the “sealing, de-sealing and demolition of the illegal construction and action taken” and cited a “vague SDMC reply, which showed no action was taken against more than 5,000 illegal constructions”.
He said the municipal corporations had become a hub of corruption and it was impossible to undertake construction without bribing civic agencies.
AAP MLA Jarnail Singh said that while hearing the PIL on Tuesday, the HC had rapped the municipality and assured them that the matter would be pursued.
“We have demanded that the civic bodies should introduce a policy that will prevent such brazen loot of public money under the name of illegal construction,” Mr. Singh said.
