Urgent need to amend MCD Act: L-G
NEW DELHI: The Public Works Department (PWD) could soon get the power to remove encroachments from the roads that it maintains in the capital.
Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal on Tuesday chaired a meeting on decongesting the roads of the national capital during which he stated that there was an urgent need to consider amending the MCD Act which under Section 298 makes the municipal corporations the sole owner of all roads in Delhi.
“It was felt in the meeting that the agency that maintains a road should also have the right to remove encroachments. All these years, the issue has not been resolved because while the PWD maintains roads that are 60 feet wide and above, they do not have the power to remove encroachments. The power lies only with the MCDs,” said an official who attended the meeting.
Earlier in January, six task forces were constituted, as per the directions of the L-G. The task forces held meetings with all stakeholders and have identified 77 congested corridors that needed intervention in the city. These corridors have been prioritized as categories ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ on the basis of volume of road users and visibility.
The L-G, during Tuesday’s meeting, also emphasized that implementation of projects and works should be undertaken in a time bound manner to ensure their timely completion. Specific timeline needed to be fixed for each action point, he said.
Baijal asked chief secretary MM Kutty to identify four to five corridors on a ‘pilot basis’ for taking immediate action. “Periodic monitoring and evaluation of impact of action on these interventions is to be done along-with proper documentation,” a statement from the L-G’s office said.
He also directed that areas under flyovers and U-turns be specifically cleaned, kept green and beautified. “Agencies responsible for the repair and maintenance of roads will also keep them encroachment free. The chief secretary of GNCTD was asked to coordinate with the agencies concerned and to submit an actionable plan within three weeks,” an official said.