With Delhi Assembly elections around the corner, the tussle between Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal has intensified over the state of civic amenities in the capital. AAP in a statement hit back at Saxena over his letter to its convener Kejriwal, saying he seems to be "more interested in politics than his sole responsibility-law and order" that is in "complete disarray and worsening" with each passing day. In a letter to Kejriwal, LG Saxena accused the AAP government of neglecting critical civic infrastructure and public services over the past decade. The letter came in response to Kejriwal's post on X, where he thanked the LG for highlighting the problems of Rangpuri Pahari during his visit on Saturday. "LG sahab: Thank you for drawing our attention to the problems of Rangpuri pahadi. Our team is constructing a new drain there and cleaning it on a war footing. You visited New Rohtak Road and also told us about the drain overflow and broken road there.
The stage is set for a high-stakes mayoral election on Thursday, as BJP councillor and former East Delhi mayor Satya Sharma has been reappointed as the presiding officer, according to civic body officials. Sharma, who also presided over the previous mayoral polls in December 2022, will again oversee the proceedings, they said. This year's contest pits AAP's Mahesh Khichi, the Devnagar councillor, against BJP's Kishan Lal from Shakurpur for the mayoral seat, with AAP's Ravinder Bhardwaj from Aman Vihar and BJP's Nita Bisht from Sadatpur competing for deputy mayor. The new mayor, a Dalit candidate, will serve a truncated five-month term due to political infighting. Since the last election, the AAP's count in the 250-member MCD House has dropped to 125, just below the majority mark, while the BJP's tally has risen to 113. The Congress holds eight seats and three are held by independents. In the previous elections, the AAP secured 134 out of 250 seats ending the BJP's 15-year rule ove
The Delhi government on Monday issued an order delegating the financial powers of the Standing Committee to MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar, allowing him to approve proposals requiring expenditures of Rs 5 crore and above for various municipal solid waste management contracts. A political slugfest erupted between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Lt Governor's office over the issue as both accused the other of delaying the passage of the order. The move comes amid a political deadlock between the ruling AAP and opposition BJP in the MCD over the constitution of the Standing Committee, the highest decision-making body of the civic body, which otherwise had the authority to approve contracts exceeding Rs 5 crore. The formation of the Standing Committee has been delayed for over 19 months and the matter is currently in the court. According to the order issued by the urban development department, the Delhi government has exercised its powers under Section 202(c) of the Delhi Municipal ...
The statement further emphasised that a power backup system was operational in the hospital's operating theatre (OT), ensuring that critical functions continued without interruption
A day after three civil services aspirants died due to rain-induced flooding in the basement of a coaching centre, Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Sunday directed that take strict action be taken against commercial activities being run in basements. Oberoi directed the MCD commissioner to take strict action against all such coaching centres across Delhi which are under the jurisdiction of MCD and running commercial activities in basements, which she said are in violation of building bye-laws and are not as per norms. She also called for an inquiry to identify if any MCD officers were responsible in the incident. Three civil services aspirants died on Saturday after the basement of a building, which was part of a coaching centre, was flooded following heavy rain in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area. "Yesterday some students were trapped in a private coaching institute being run in Rajinder Nagar due to flooding and out of them three students lost their lives. This is very shockin
The Supreme Court on Monday slammed authorities for their failure to process municipal solid waste generated in Delhi and termed it "sorry state of affairs". The apex court observed that in the national capital, 3,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated remains untreated every day. "What is the solution to that," a bench of justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the lawyers appearing for different authorities, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The bench observed that the issue of processing municipal solid waste was "very vital" for the national capital and there should be no politics be involved in this. The hearing in the matter has been passed over and will be taken up again during the day. While hearing the matter on April 22, the apex court had termed as "shocking" that 3,000 tonnes of the 11,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated in Delhi every day was not processed. The top court, which had perused a report of the Commission of Air Quality ..
This move comes in light of the ongoing implementation of the Model Code of Conduct due to the Lok Sabha elections
The Delhi High Court has said there is no bar under the Constitution on political parties, which are granted recognition by the State Election Commission (SEC), from contesting municipal polls. The court has also said the allocation of poll symbols to political parties by the SEC for municipal elections is reasonable and not arbitrary. The court passed an order to this effect while dismissing a petition that had sought a direction to the SEC here to stop putting the reserved symbols for political parties on the list of contesting candidates. The plea had also sought a direction to the SEC to conduct the election to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the reserved symbols, which allegedly violated the petitioner's fundamental rights as enshrined under Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution. "In light of the law laid down by the Supreme Court, the recognition granted by the SEC to the political parties to contest municipal elections is within its jurisdicti
Civic authorities took 440 demolition actions against illegal constructions in January, the MCD said on Tuesday. Besides, 85 sealing actions and 35 actions against illegal plotting were taken during the same period, officials said. In the last couple of months, there have been intermittent bans on construction and demolition activities due to GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) measures to curb pollution levels in the national capital, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said in a statement. "As soon as this phase was over, the MCD immediately swung into action by resuming its demolition and sealing actions against unauthorised constructions," it said. The actions have been conducted in line with the Master Plan - 2021, Unified Building Bye-Laws - 2016, and the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act - 1957, the officials said. The MCD steered the demolition and sealing actions, "majorly targeting illegal plotting or colonisation on agricultural land", it said. "In spite of GRAP-III
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has decided to reduce the minimum distance condition for opening a meat shop near any religious place to 100 metres from 150 metres, besides watering down other provisions. The move comes after the civic body drew opposition from meat sellers in the city who feared that the new regulations passed in October would adversely impact nearly 6,000 meat shops under the MCD jurisdiction and may even force many to shut businesses. The MCD, in its last House meeting of 2023 on December 28, gave its nod to a revised proposal introduced as a private member bill by AAP councillors Sultana Aabad and Amin Malik that proposed to decrease the minimum permissible distance between a meat shop and a religious place to 100 metres in densely populated areas along with other changes, an official said Monday. According to the revised proposal, the fee charged for the renewal of the licence for a meat shop has been slashed to Rs 5,000 from Rs 7,000 proposed earlier, the .
The Delhi government has decided to increase the minimum wage of MCD employees, a civic official said on Monday. Monthly minimum wages for unskilled workers of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will be increased to Rs 17,234 from Rs 16,792. The wage will rise to Rs 18,993 from Rs 18,499 for semi-skilled workers and to Rs 20,903 from Rs 20,375 for skilled workers. Dearness allowance will be paid to all MCD workers staring April 1, the officials added. The AAP had announced dearness allowance for all MCD employees with effect from April 1. A government proposal on increasing the minimum wages will be tabled for approval in the next MCD House meeting. The accumulated dearness allowance for civic employees will be released after it is approved by the House, the MCD official said. The minimum wages for clerical and supervisory staff will also be increased in all scheduled employment, according to the agenda of the MCD House meeting. According to the proposal, the minimum salar
Replicating the 'Delhi government model' in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the civic body has planned to soon start door-step delivery of 23 services, including birth and death certificates and renewal of factory license, officials said on Tuesday. Mayor Shelly Oberoi said the move is for the convenience of the elderly and those citizens who are not tech-savvy. The MCD is planning to introduce door-step delivery of its 23 services from October onwards, officials said. Under this, citizens can request services or file complaints on a toll-free number 155305. Post this, a visit would be schedules with the mobile 'sahayak', who would visit their home between 8 am to 10 pm, and provide information as well as resolution, they said. A mobile 'sahayak' will be provided with a laptop, tablet and internet facility for working. The MCD will try to deliver the services within two working days, mayor said. Following the 'Delhi government model', the doorstep delivery system will be ...
Delhi MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi has instructed all zone officers to prepare a list of employees who have been deliberately failing to fulfil their duties towards citizens
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has sought details of ongoing and upcoming projects of various MCD departments, including public health, sanitation and environment management, sources said on Tuesday. Oberoi was elected as the mayor of the city on February 22 and had taken charge on the same day. "The mayor has written to the municipal commissioner, seeking all details from various departments of the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi), about the status of ongoing works and projects, and planned projects," an official source said. Shortly after being elected as mayor, Oberoi had said the Aam Aadmi Party-led municipal corporation will carry out an inspection of landfill sites in the next three days and also work to deliver the party's 10 "guarantees" promised to the people before the December 4 MCD polls. The mayor has sought information from departments of public health, horticulture, engineering, sanitation and environment management services, and education, among others. The departme
Delhi has been on tenterhooks for the last two months as the BJP, and the AAP have been fighting to get their respective candidates to sit on the top post in the civic body
Delhi LG VK Saxena has given his nod for convening the next session of the MCD House on February 16 for election to the post of mayor, official sources said on Sunday. The government had sent the proposal to hold the House session on February 16 and Saxena has accepted it, they said.
The civic budget 2023-24 is likely to be passed by the special officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi as the mayoral election is still due and less than a week is left to complete the budget exercise, sources said on Thursday. If this happens, it will be an "unprecedented development" in the civic body's journey as budget is traditionally passed by a House, they said. The municipal House in Delhi on February 6 had failed to elect a mayor for the third time in a row in a month, following ruckus over the decision to allow aldermen to vote in the mayoral poll, even as the AAP alleged a "planned conspiracy" by the BJP to stall the process. An agitated AAP, which is seeking a "court-monitored" election, moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday over this issue. The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses of the office of the lieutenant governor, pro tem presiding officer of the MCD Satya Sharma, and others on a plea filed by AAP's mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi. A bench of Chief .
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses of the office of the lieutenant governor, pro tem presiding officer Satya Sharma of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and others on a plea filed by AAP mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi seeking early holding of the mayoral election. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala said it is issuing notice on the plea and seeking replies by next Monday. Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, pointed out that the House was convened three times but the election of the mayor was not held. "We have several objections including that the pro tem presiding officer of the MCD is insisting on holding elections for mayor, deputy mayor and members of standing committee all at once. This is contrary to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act," he said. Singhvi said the other issue is the voting rights of nominated members of the House and it needs to be adjudicated. The
The Delhi municipal House is set to convene on Monday to elect a mayor for the city after failing to complete the poll in two previous attempts. According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first House that convenes after the civic polls. However, it's been two months since the municipal elections were held, and Delhi is still to get a mayor. The first two sessions -- held on January 6 and January 24 -- were adjourned by the presiding officer without electing a mayor following a ruckus and acrimonious exchanges between the members of the BJP and the AAP. While the first session of the 250-member House after the December 4 civic polls went in vain, in the second session, the nominated members and elected members took oath. After the oath-taking exercise, the second municipal House was adjourned till the next date by Presiding Officer and BJP councillor Satya Sharma. While BJP members had walked out of the
A PIL has been moved in Delhi HC seeking direction to the Centre and the ECI to ascertain the feasibility of conducting elections to the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies simultaneously