The South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Standing Committee on Wednesday introduced a new policy to allow farmhouses and motels to undertake social functions on their premises.
The proposal comes after the Supreme Court appointed monitoring committee had, on September 20, directed the South and North corporations to identify and take action against such properties that were being misused or had unauthorised constructions.
Last week, in a letter to the monitoring committee, the corporation asked it to keep its directions to seal in abeyance while it formulated a policy to regulate social functions.
The letter stated that sealing these properties would “..cause chaos in the city and disturb marriage plans of a large number of families.”
Concerned property owners will have to apply for regularisation after obtaining No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the police and the fire department.
Permit for 75 days a year
An annual fee will be calculated based on the location of the property and the square footage to be covered by the pandal set up for functions. This permission to conduct social functions will be applicable for 75 days in a year.
“We introduced this policy to regularise those properties that are currently being termed as misused. There was no policy before this. What decision the monitoring committee takes now is up to them, our job is to formulate policy,” said Shika Rai, Chairperson of the Standing Committee.
The policy also details a list of liabilities of the property owners with regard to conducting the function, including ensuring adequate parking, loud speakers to be turned off after 10 p.m., and ensuring CCTV cameras at entry and exit points.
Corporation officials have been directed to conduct regular inspections with heavy penalties on violators.
