oppn parties Sealing Issue in Delhi: Civic Bodies Never Learn

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  • For the first time ever, Mukesh Ambani buys a 29% stake in Gautam Adani's Mahan Energen, a subsidiary of Adani Power to source 500MW of electricity from the company's power plant in MP
  • Stocks continue to rise on Thursday - Sensex gains 639 points to 73635 and Nifty 203 points to 22326
  • Golf - Indian Open: 3 Indians at tied 14th as Joost Luiten takes the lead with a wonderful 7-under 65
  • IPL: RR beat DC by 12 runs as Riyan Parag (84 off just 45 balls) shines
  • SP drops two candidates owing allegiance to Azam Khan from Rampur and Moradabad
  • In Assam, a controversy erupted after a picture of UPPL leader Benjamin Basumatary, lying on a stack of Rs 500 notes circulated on social media. UPPL is an ally of the BJP
  • AAP's Jalandhar-West MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joins the BJP. He was the only AAP Lok Sabha MP
  • Supreme Court dismisses Centre's plea to review its 2023 verdict in the PMLA case
  • Close save for passengers as they remain unhurt after the wings of two planes graze at Kolkata airport. Pilots derostered and inquiry ordered by DGCA
  • Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh gets notice from the EC as well as the BJP for making ugly remarks about Mamata Banerjee's parentage
  • Sadanand Vasanth Date, who faught terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was awarded the Preisent's Police medal, has been appointed the head of the NIA
  • Centre will borrow Rs 7.5L cr in the first six months of FY25, nearly 50% of the target for the full year
  • 25 stocks, including SBI, will see same day trade settlements from today in the world's fastest settlement mode in both BSE and NSE
  • Stocks recover smartly on Wednesday: Sensex rises 526 points to 72996 and Nifty 118 points to 22123
  • Tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden reached the semifinals of the Miami Open
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
Sealing Issue in Delhi: Civic Bodies Never Learn

By Slogger
First publised on 2018-01-31 12:03:40

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
Despite it being on the orders of the Supreme Court, the sealing of commercial premises that is going on in Delhi is not the correct response to burgeoning commercial establishments in residential areas in Indian cities. For, unplanned urban growth is a stark reality in India, aided by lax civic rules, a corrupt bureaucracy and the penchant of politicians to overlook deviation from building rules by regularizing it with fines and penalties. The problem is not unique to Delhi and all Indian cities and towns suffer from it. Still, it is unfair to seal establishments that have been running for decades.

With cities expanding at express speed, civic officials neither have the resources nor the will to keep a check on all construction activities. It is no secret that whenever they do carry out surveys at ongoing construction work, it is more to fleece the promoter for hush money than to enforce the rules. Civic officials will themselves suggest ways to ‘regularize’ the illegal part - for a fee of course that will include both the official part for penalties and fines and an unofficial part for services rendered. Hence, unless the civic bodies set their own houses in order, the sealing drives are nothing but an attempt to cover up their own shortcomings.

With the number of taxes civic bodies impose on citizens, Indian towns and cities are veritable treasure pots. It is only ineffective collection system and rampant corruption that keeps these bodies perennially short of funds. There is no harm in allowing small shops catering to the daily needs of the residents in residential localities, for otherwise they would have to commute long distances for basic requirements. This confusion over change in character of premises and the consequent sealing drama has been going on for long. A permanent solution must be devised and presented before the Supreme Court to end it once and for all. There should be no politics over something that is basically a legal problem being monitored by the Supreme Court.