New members in Delhi Assembly committee to look into encroachment

A Delhi Assembly committee on Monday was expanded with the addition of five new members to it to look into the matter of encroachment on the Public Works Department's roads and to suggest solutions for tackling the problem.

The existing nine-member Standing Committee on Public Utilities and Civic Amenities will have the ruling Aam Aadmi Party's Madan Lal, Naresh, Saurabh Bharadwaj and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's Jagdish Pradhan and O.P. Sharma.

PWD Minister Satyendra Jain said that the department does not have power to remove encroachment on its roads.

"It is the MCDs (Municipal Corporations of Delhi) that have the power to remove it but they don't take up the responsibility (to do so)," he said

Jain said that there was a need to suggest laws against it, adding that there was no need to form a separate panel.

He said that due to illegal encroachment, there is huge problem during emergencies. "Fire tenders and ambulance often do not reach in time," he said.

The committee will suggest solutions to tackle encroachment on PWD's roads and also study laws of other states to remove the same.

Jain also said that he received complaints from various MLAs on the encroachment on roads in their constituencies.

--IANS

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