Draw line, no illegal construction will be allowed: HC to MCD

Rampant unauthorised construction in Karol Bagh here has come under the scanner of the Delhi High Court, which said a line has to be drawn and no further illegal buildings should be allowed to come up.
"We are only concerned with the public authority. The unauthorised construction is totally illegal. Can you (builder) say that it is a national loss?
"Whatever you did was past. Now we need to draw a line. No illegal construction is permissible under the law (Delhi Municipal Corporation Act)," a bench of justices B D Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul said.
The court acted on a PIL filed by NGO Paardarshita Public Welfare Foundation which claimed that 115 shops in Karol Bagh area are illegal and need to be demolished.

Meanwhile, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), today said in its reply that illegal shops have been raised in the area and if the owner or builder do not act according to the sanctioned building plan of 2007, they will demolish the unauthorised structures within four weeks.
Agreeing to NDMC's counsel submission the court listed the matter for further hearing on November 19.

The NGO had alleged that the NDMC Commissioner did not take necessary actions against the illegal constructions of shops at Niawala in Karol Bagh here.
"The sanctioned building plans for the property on the Gurudawara Road was sanctioned under the mixed land use policy allowing construction of 22 shops at ground floor and residential use on 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor.

"The owner/builder constructed more than 115 shops converting all the floors into commercial complex, deviating from the actual sanction plan of the property," Harkrishan Das Nijhawan, Secretary General of the NGO, had said.
Nijhawan had told the bench that figures cited in the PIL were accessed under the RTI Act adding that his letter to the commissioner to take action was ignored.
The PIL had also alleged that the commissioner failed to discharge his duty and sought a direction from the court for immediate action.