demolishing the neta in Delhi

The High Court had passed an order recently, which called for demolishing 18,000 illegal structures in the national capital. A lot of hue and cry was raised by various quarters, including the businesses affected, the common people who'se houses were targetted and the loudest of them all were the politicians of New Delhi. The MLA's and other state politicians disregarded political affiliation and joined hands to protect their turfs, and stop this direct threat to the profitable real estate business.

While Sheila Dixit, the Delhi CM, has given a lot of soundbites to sticking to the plan of demolition and breaking the corrupt MCD, the politicians and even MCD ganged up against her, trying to expose her own illegal properties. The oligarchic state that sometimes India seems to be was evident in this drive too, with the MCD targetting the weakest first. Of course, all the politicians were spared, and so were some of the rich business houses. The High Court came down heavily on the MCD, but despite numerous warnings and directions from the High Court, the MCD just couldn'd get itself to do what is right. And why should it, when it hasn't done so in all its years of existance.

One thing is clear, when it comes to corruption, malpractices and flouting norms, the national capital leads from the front. Any rule can be flouted here, all you need is some money to pay to the Delhi Police or the Municipal Commission of Delhi.

So the campaign by the smalltime, worthless, petty politicians in Delhi continues unabated, and they have forced the central government to set up a high level committee to look into the public demolitions, and now there is talk that they might legalize all construction before January 1, 2006. If this indeed comes about, as it did in Ulhasnagar, near Mumbai, then it will do considerable damage to my faith in the system.

I know this nation was formed for our politicians to rape for their pleasure, and we were raised to be herded like sheep, see the injustice and keep quiet about it. Nobody can help us but ourselves, and till I can see the common man rise above the crap that the politicians fill their ears with, I will be severely disillusioned about the future of my country. So if there is some principled politician in power out there who is not knee deep in this illegal industry, take a stand. From the looks of it, the PMO seems to be against such an Ulhasnagar Ordinance, and hopefully they wont buckle. As for the MCD and DDA, I want to see the guilty parties publicly humiliated and booted for their gross corruption. MCD needs to be cleaned from top to toe.

However, the point to note here is that to bring about a change requires guts, and if you think Indian politicians have guts, you might as well believe that cow did jump over the moon. The last two leaders in the Congress to have guts were Mrs. Gandhi and Shri. PV Narasimha Rao, and their deaths took away over 50 percent of guts in this party.

In my next post, I'll quote a BBC article (of all the publications in the world, i found it on the Beeb!). While I may not agree with some of it, it still brings the obvious facts out.

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PM orders a new look at illegal constructions

Ruling out any immediate bailout package to deal with the ongoing demolition of illegal and unauthorised properties here in the Capital, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday directed the Union Urban Development Ministry to set up a high-power committee to study the issue of violations in various categories and suggest "practical measures" through an amnesty scheme or changes to be made in the building by-laws.

At the same time, the Union Government completely ruled out the possibility of issuing an Ordinance to deal with the ongoing demolition drive being carried out under the directions of the Delhi High Court.

Describing encroachments on public land as a "serious violation'' compared to "minor violations by lakhs of residents", Mr. Reddy said the MCD should concentrate on ongoing illegal constructions.

It is learnt that the much- talked about issue of MCD trifurcation was also raked up by Ms. Dikshit during the meeting. However, it was felt that any breaking up of the civic body was more of a political than an administrative decision and this forum was not the right place to decide on such an important issue.

No ordinance to stop Delhi demolitions

Ruling out promulgation of an Ordinance as demanded by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on the lines of the recent Ulhasnagar legislation in Maharashtra, Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy on Monday said the Centre was in no mood for such a solution but was carefully studying the situation.

"We are seized of the situation and are working on something that would provide relief to minor violators but not the builder mafia or land grabbers.''

"A solution has to be found that has an impact and acts as a deterrent to the violators. We also have to ensure that we do not antagonise the courts. Any proposed solution from the Government will face scrutiny of the courts and this has to be kept in mind,'' said Mr. Maken soon after taking charge of his Ministry.

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No stopping the bulldozers, says Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to grant any interim stay over the ongoing demolition of illegal structures in the capital's Lal Dora area which is the hub of several prominent lifestyle products showrooms.

The bench passed the order after senior counsel K T S Tulsi, appearing for prominent fashion designer Rohit Bal and others, claimed such exemptions by citing notifications said to have been issued by the MCD and revenue officials.

However, the bench was not convinced with the counsel's arguments and questioned the local standi of the petitioners who were neither the builders nor the owners of the illegal structures but were only occupiers on rent. The matter has been posted for further hearing to February 14.