MCD slaps misuse fees on encroachers in industrial areas

The survey report states that there is five per cent encroachment in industrial areas of Narela and Patparganj, 20 to 30 per cent in Okhla and 40 to 95 per cent in Anand Parbat, Mayapuri, Kirti Nagar, Shahzada Bagh, Najafgarh Road, Mongolpuri, Wazirpur, Nangloi, Rajasthan Udyog Nagar, Lawrence Road, Rohtak Road, GT Karnal Road and GT Shahadara Road.

Factory owners have used the encroached land for building godowns, parking lots, and keeping the generator sets.

Keeping in mind the contents of the report, it was felt that misuse charges to the tune of 10 per cent of the price of the land occupied by the encroacher should be levied on all factory owners and industrialists.

The proposal to levy these charges was then put to the MCD8217;s Standing Committee, which approved it earlier this year. It was then decided that the MCD would collect these charges every quarter and they would be calculated from March 1999 onwards.

According to the report, there are 16,000 industrial units in the Capital which have encroached on municipal land around their units. Out of these, 12,000 units are such that have encroached on 40 to 95 per cent of municipal land in their area. The report points out that on an average, every factory has encroached 40 per cent of municipal land, taking the total area of encroached land in industrial areas to 3.6 lakh square metres.

For instance, the price of land in Okhla Industrial Area is Rs 19,000 per square metre. If the MCD asks the encroachers to pay 10 per cent of the land price that these encroachers have taken over, it can generate Rs 63.84 crore from this area alone every year.

Similarly, 4,000 industrial units in Anand Parbat, Mayapuri, Kirti Nagar, Shahzada Bagh, Najafgarh Road, Mongolpuri, Wazirpur, Nangloi, Rajasthan Udyog Nagar, Lawrence Road, Rohtak Road, GT Karnal Road and GT Shahadara Road have encroached on 40 to 95 per cent of municipal land. From this area, where 40,000 square metres of land has been encroached, the MCD hopes to collect Rs 10.4 crore every year.

According to B.L. Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Land and Estates: 8220;We are carrying out a survey of all the industrial areas of the city. While some of these reports have come in, others are awaited.8221;

He said that now that the surveys are completed, they have begun the process of levying misuse charges. He said that in Najafgarh, one factory owner had encroached on 119 square metres of municipal land for which he has been asked to pay Rs 7.11 lakh. The other factory owner, also in Najafgarh industrial area, has encroached on 4,635 square metre and his penalty was being calculated, he said.

Sharma added that the MCD had removed the encroachments in industrial areas several times in the past, but it had proved fruitless. This time, however, strict action would be taken against all those who did not pay the misuse charges, he said.