Multiplicity of authorities drag development of delhi – Sheila Dikshit

A ‘stressed out’ city like Delhi, which undergoes radical changes every two years in terms of heavy influx of people, crisscrossing of over 5 million vehicles every day, a long term development plan would fall terribly short of peoples’ expectations, according to Chief Minister of Delhi Mrs Sheila Dikshit.

While addressing a Conference on “Delhi Vision 2021-Opportunities for Planned Urban Developmtn” organized by PHD Chamber in the capital today, the Chief Minister said that the phenomenal growth of Delhi over the past few years has had adverse impact on its limited civic facilities. “ Delhi has to find the solutions to these problems through the active participation of the citizenry since it cannot depend on neighboring States for easing its pressure on housing, water etc,” she said. She added that rejuvenation of over 150 water bodies out of the 300 and odd spread across the country, with help of the people living nearby would significantly enhance the water table of Delhi.

Expressing her concern about the multiplicity of authorities in Delhi, Mrs. Dikshit said that the elected representatives of the Delhi State many a times become mute spectators of the development or lack of it taking place in the State. “ The true spirit of 74th and 75th Amendment of the Constitution cannot be enjoyed by the elected representatives of the State. The Police force is with the Union Home Ministry, DDA is under Union Ministry of Urban Affairs, which controls land mass and ‘transfer powers’vest with the Lt. Governor, which makes governance difficult. Most of the time, we have to get things done for the State through our goodwill with the Union Ministries and other authorities,” she said.

The Chief Minister observed that in the given dispensation, implementation of the projects would become tardy. For instance, she pointed out that process, procedures and archaic laws prevent smooth implementation of the development plans. A case in point is Lal Dora development, which is being governed by an Act promulgated in 1911. Calling for proactive participation of all segments of society in making Delhi an ideal place to live, she said, “ there are people who find everything wrong with the city, but everybody wants to stay here, be they politicans, civil servants or ordinary people.”

Mentioning that the National Capital Region (NCR) is more or less a dead concept, the Chief Minister said that, development of satellite cities is critical to deal with the problems of Delhi, particularly when one million people commute to Delhi every day for job purposes. Higher incidence of household industries numbering over one lakh and fast expanding chain of educational institutions and hospitals are also problems to be attended to. She also concurred with the idea of bifurcating the MCD into two or three entities to ensure better governance.

The Chief minister also flag marked some of the high points of development that have taken place in Delhi such as Metro, introduction of over one lakh vehicles running on CNG, which is the largest in the world and steadily increasing green cover. However, she said that housing for the economically weaker sections of the society is a challenge to be faced with. Delhi, despite contributing a large share to the national tax kitty, still has to find ways and means of its own to finance the housing of the economically weaker people. In this regard, she disclosed that 50,000 dwelling units would be ready shortly for distributing to the vulnerable section of the society with stiff conditions to prevent selling them. The Delhi Government would give a subsidy of Rs.1 lakh apart from other contributions to various agencies to make these dwellings within the reach of the people targeted at, she added. She invited the private builders to participate in the scheme for providing dwellings at subsidized rates to drivers and others working with the persons living in the flats built by them.

The others who spoke at the meeting included Mr Sanjay Bhatia, President, PHD Chamber, Mr Vijay Mehta, Chairman, Delhi & NCR Committee, PHD Chamber, Mr EFN Riberio, Fromer town Planner and Mr M L Chotani, Additional Chief Planner, TCPO.