Overenthusiastic at Jahangirpuri, North MCD has almost 4,000 pending complaints, highest in Delhi

North MCD Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said this is because police security for such drives is not always available. “In the case of Jahangirpuri, we got the force because they were already deputed in the area,” he said.

A view of the site where anti-encroachment drive was carried out at Jahangirpuri in New Delhi. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

Written by: Abhinav Rajput

3 min readNew DelhiApr 22, 2022 01:43 AM IST First published on: Apr 22, 2022 at 01:42 AM IST

The North MCD, which was unusually quick to carry out the demolition drive in Jahangirpuri on Wednesday, has the highest pendency among all civic and government agencies in Delhi when it comes to acting against encroachment and unauthorised construction. As per data from the Special Task Force set up to clear encroachments and unauthorised constructions in the capital, 3,903 complaints are pending with the North MCD since the STF was formed in 2018 till April 15, 2022. In contrast, South MCD has 1,097 pending complaints, East has 594, DDA has 1,186 and the revenue department has 266.

Data till April 18 also shows that the North MCD has 1,772 complaints pending for a month. In the same period, 459 complaints were pending with the South MCD, 331 with the EDMC and 134 with the DDA.

North MCD Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said this is because police security for such drives is not always available. “In the case of Jahangirpuri, we got the force because they were already deputed in the area,” he said.

A senior North MCD official said the high pendency is because the North MCD has the highest number of unauthorised colonies and is densely populated.

Another senior official, who has been part of the STF, however said, “The Special Task Force’s directive is more important than other complaints and should be addressed first. The North body did not show the same enthusiasm in acting on STF complaints, which is why it has the highest pendency.”

The STF was constituted by the MoHUA on April 25, 2018, to oversee effective and proper enforcement of provisions of the Master Plan and the Unified Building Bylaws for Delhi and remove encroachment and unauthorised construction. Besides the DDA vice-chairman, the 19-member STF comprises senior officers from various local bodies.

Read | Jahangirpuri demolition: SC extends status quo, will look at due process

Even when it comes to clearing encroachments on roads/ streets/footpaths, data shows that the North MCD is behind the other two corporations. From January 1 to March 31, the North MCD cleared 244 km of encroachments, while the South cleared 366 km and the East cleared 171 km. Between April 1 and 15, the North body has not cleared encroachments. In contrast, SDMC cleared 70 km of encroachments and EDMC 79 km.

From April 25, 2018, to April 15, 2022, the North MCD has received 56,093 complaints pertaining to properties not complying with rules, removal of encroachment and unauthorised construction. However, no action was required in 39,188 complaints, data shows. A senior official said that in several of these cases, complaints are filed by neighbours over petty reasons. In other cases, he said there is either duplication of complaints or the illegality has been rectified.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said he will write to the East and South MCD mayors to conduct similar drives in their areas to “bulldoze illegal encroachments by Rohingya and Bangladeshis”.