DCW raps SDMC again over street lights ‘failure’

DAYS AHEAD of the MCD polls, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday questioned the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) over its alleged failure to install street lights. The commission’s action comes after the Delhi legislative Assembly — in which 66 of 70 MLAS belong to AAP — sent a complaint over MLA funds not being used to install street lights.

The commission said that it had issued a similar notice to the South MCD on March 31. However, since the civic body did not respond to the notice, the commission issued it afresh. “The DCW has issued a notice to the SDMC and asked for the number of street lights that have been installed by the SDMC since 1991 from the MLA Fund. The notice also seeks information on whether or not the lights were being installed by utilising the MLA fund. The notice also inquires about the reasons for stopping the work of installation if they were being installed,” a DCW official said.

The commission has sought the information from SDMC in three days. In March, during the budget session of the Delhi Assembly, a heated exchange took place after AAP MLAS alleged that the Bjp-ruled MCD had deliberately not used MLA funds for works like installing street lights or repairing roads to show the AAP in poor light before the civic polls.

The BJP, on the other hand, had claimed that the Delhi government’s Urban Development Department was not releasing the MLA funds to the District Urban Development Authority (DUDA).

In December 2016, the questions and references committee of the Delhi Assembly had summoned the SDMC commissioner and asked him whether or not a resolution passed by the SDMCS standing committee to “not use MLA-LAD funds for installing LED lights and gymnasiums in parks” was binding on the officers of the civic body.