The four disaster management centres of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation are either being used to house offices of other departments or are ill-equipped to deal with emergencies, Leader of the Opposition Farhad Suri said on Thursday.
In a reply to Mr. Suri’s short-notice query at a meeting of the House, the Engineering Department admitted that the land allotted for the disaster management centre in Dwarka had been used to construct a two-story building for the House Tax Department.
The 8,008-square metre plot was given to the SDMC by the Delhi Development Authority on July 31, 2012, to construct a disaster management centre. However, about 1,000 sq. m. was used to construct the building for the House Tax Department. There is a proposal to construct the disaster management centre on the remaining space, but the contract is yet to be awarded.
“The open space in the plot is presently being used as parking lot for the trucks/tippers presently deployed for garbage disposal of Najafgarh Zone[sic],” the reply read.
The four centres — at Dwarka, R.K. Puram, Okhla and Najafgarh — were set up by the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and the SDMC has not incurred any expenditure on equipment.
Mr. Suri added: “This just shows the callous attitude of the BJP leadership in the SDMC. Delhi falls in seismic zone V. A recent survey has found that 80 per cent of the buildings are unsafe. What are we waiting for?”
The BJP leaders, however, said funding from the State government was needed.
“As per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the civic body has to make arrangements for disaster management and the Delhi government has to give funds. Till they do that, we can’t construct the buildings or buy new equipment,” said Mayor Subhash Arya.
In the wake of two devastating earthquakes in Nepal and parts of India, disaster preparedness and building safety in the Capital have come under fresh scrutiny.
The four disaster management centres are either being used to house offices of other departments or are ill-equipped to deal with emergencies
