MCD House passes proposal on properties 'booked' for action, mayor says move will curb corruption

File Photo/PTI

People in Delhi will be able to get their properties that have been booked for action "regularised" by getting building sanction plans passed and "illegal constructions removed", Mayor Shelly Oberoi said, after the MCD House on Monday cleared a proposal on booked properties. The move comes months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Lakhs of people will benefit from this decision and "corruption in installing electricity metres" at such properties will be stopped, Oberoi said at a press conference. An official later said "booking" refers to a property getting "booked for action" and, if an alteration or addition to an existing building is found violative of the approved building plan, the "illegal part" is marked for demolition. Leader of Opposition Raja Iqbal Singh also held a press conference after the proceedings were adjourned and alleged that the AAP "is opening new avenues" by bringing the Delhi Jal Board and the Power department along with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for a work that will "promote corruption". The AAP-led MCD should crack down on the Building department so that illegal constructions stop but they have started finding "new dimensions of corruption", he claimed. An amnesty scheme for property taxpayers should be "introduced immediately", Singh said and alleged that traders are getting "troubled due to fines in the name of advertisement boards".

A Diplomate National Board (DNB) course at the medical college attached to the Hindu Rao Hospital and the extension of a contract for toll tax collection and Environment Compensation Charges were among the proposals approved by the House on Monday, amid protests by BJP members over a recent fire in Alipur. The mayor's office in a statement said that the AAP dispensation in the MCD has taken a "big decision". After adjourning the House for the day, Oberoi addressed reporters on the proposals passed. "There is a big problem in Delhi which is whenever there is renovation or alteration in any property in a colony or any new building is being constructed, then those properties are booked by the MCD," she said. Oberoi said the proposal was made "based on a court case 'Preeti vs MCD 2007'. "People will be able to get their booked property regularised by getting the building sanction plan passed and illegal constructions removed. Lakhs of people will benefit from this decision. Corruption in installing electricity metres on (such) properties, and (any) illegal construction will be stopped. The officers will have to do this work of the people with transparency and within the stipulated time limit," the statement quoted her as saying.

"Booked properties can now be regularised as per the rules. Like someone has got a building plan passed and built a two-storey house. But after some time, a third floor was also constructed and that floor was booked, considering the extra floor as illegal. If there is permission to build three floors in that area, then such a property owner will be able to get that third floor regularised later by getting the building plan passed and paying the necessary fees," she added. Apart from this, if extra floors have been constructed, owners of such properties will be able to get those regularised by removing those to keep it in compliance with the sanctioned building plan. Explaining the process, Oberoi said if there is any renovation, alteration or addition to a property in Delhi, and its owner is filing the property tax return, then an assessing officer of the MCD's Assessment and Collection department can ask for the building plan from the Building department. After that, the assessing officer will have to reply to the Building department with the house tax details related to that building in which any changes or additions are done. It will be the responsibility of the assessing officer to respond to the Building department. The assessing officer and the Building department will be "accountable to each other and will have to reply to each other within 15 days", Oberoi told reporters.

After that, according to Section 491 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the zonal deputy commissioner and the superintendent engineer will "ensure that if there is any change in any building, the same will have to be informed to the Electricity department and the Delhi Jal Board", the statement said. "It will be the responsibility of these officers that if any action is to be taken on any illegal construction, then before doing that they will have to prepare a report of such a property and inform the Electricity department and the Delhi Jal Board. The zonal deputy commissioner and the superintendent engineer will ensure that any action is taken on the property only after taking and giving the complete report from all the departments. Action will be taken on any property only after the report reaches the Delhi Jal Board, Electricity department, assessing officer and the Building department," the statement added. After the proposal's passing, the public will "get relief" and there will be "no corruption" in the process, it said. Other proposals passed in the House include allocation of space on rent to an NGO for working women; buying uniforms, stationery for schoolchildren; and one "regarding appointment of additional commissioner-deputy commissioner", the statement further said.

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