CPWD illegally letting out garages in MP quarters: Police

Documents accessed by Newsline show a list of five such garages in the VVIP area of North Avenue in New Delhi district — numbers 12,N 24,109,110 and 111 — that have been let out by the CPWD.

Citing “security concerns”,police have written to the CPWD,pointing out that the use of these garages and servants’ quarters for commercial activities is “inappropriate”.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) S B S Tyagi said,“This is a residential premise. This should not be used for commercial activities. We have written to the CPWD in this regard.”

However,senior police officers said they were not authorised to vacate the premises as it was the job of the CPWD to do so. Police said it was not easy to verify people visiting the shops or those bringing their children to the schools. Only those who lived in these garages had been verified so far,police added.

A senior officer said,“The garages lie in a high-security area and the general public visiting this area cannot be individually verified. The government body has not yet responded or vacated these premises.”

Sources said these garages were being used for these activities for the past three years and that the issue had been discussed in every housing committee meeting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Sources said after the first discussion,police were asked to conduct a survey. On September 4,Newsline had reported how the Delhi Police has drawn up a list of 35 MPs who let out their garages and their servants’ quarters for commercial activities including laundry shops,tailoring shops and dhobi shops.

Meanwhile,areas around the MPs’ quarters have also been found to have been encroached upon by those living in these garages,police said. “They use the premises to dry their clothes and some have even extended their accommodation,” an officer said.