Palatial bungalows continue to mushroom in colony despite the menace being on the radar of the court and the media
Since the launch of this newspaper (which has nothing to do with any organization or colony RWA) on Diwali-eve last year, we have received immense appreciation and invaluable suggestions from our readers. Our raison d’etre is to be your voice and to bring the community together to ensure a better quality of life for everyone. Towards this agenda, we have flagged many issues that concern every resident like traffic snarls (November 11, 2023 edition) the non-availability of Delhi Jal Board water (November 16, 2023 edition); and decoding the legal tangle behind the colony’s struggle to get a legal tag (November 11, 2023 edition). We also took a deep dive into how some moneyed individuals are thwarting efforts to recover encroached upon forest land which is part of the Aravallis. In the edition dated December 24, 2023, we spoke to residents to elicit their views on whether the colony would benefit if it is ‘regularized’. Their common sentiment was that while that may be desirable if it gives us wide roads and civic amenities hitherto denied to the colony, the builder lobby can’t be allowed to run amok and turn Sainik Farms into a concrete jungle like say, Greater Kailash. It is an open secret, however, that even though any kind of construction is currently banned in the colony due to Delhi High Court orders issued in 1997 and in 2001 (in case titled ‘Rajeev Malhotra vs Union of India and others’) – palatial bungalows keep coming up all the time behind the veil. As per sources, there is a well-oiled builders-officials machinery at work to fulfil even the most outlandish wishes of well-heeled prospective bungalow owners. This, even as legitimate resident are unable to repair leaking roofs or even get their houses whitewashed. “See, if you have the money, there is no obstacle. You can either pay off concerned govt officials yourself or we can do the liaison. The current rate is Rs 2000 per square feet to MCD and Rs 1500 per square feet to enforcement agencies. Money also must be paid to MLA, councillor etc. Cost of labour and building material is high due to narrow roads for which small trucks must be used, and comes to around Rs 4000 per sq. feet,” claimed a property dealer-cum-builder in the colony on the condition of anonymity. “It may still not all be smooth going. MCD may undertake ‘cosmetic’ demolitions. Revenue department officials may demand their own pound of flesh. In some cases, actual demolitions may put a spanner in the work, as happened in the case of a bungalow under construction for 2 years in Lane W 12,” he added. Despite this scenario, many individuals clearly have a fetish to build a house in Sainik Farms. In response to an RTI filed by a resident of Anupam Garden in June, 2023 regarding the number of unauthorized constructions detected by Delhi Police in the colony between Jan 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, Additional DCP (South) replied that 237 such cases were referred to the MCD. When asked to give a perspective to this, a retired IPS officer residing in the colony said it could well be the ‘tip of the iceberg’. “If they are admitting to such a high number, the actual number could well be ten times that. In the last 20 years, the courts have often take cognizance of this menace and penalized the agencies. On many occasions, senior MCD officials have issued orders to raze illegal houses. HC had even threatened to order a CBI enquiry to fix accountability of MCD officials responsible for illegal constructions in Sainik Farms as it did in the case of Neb Sarai,” he added. “Moreover, in 2018, HC asked Centre to coordinate with ISRO and Geological Survey of India to carry out satellite imagery of the colony to determine the extent of encroachments and illegal construction. But the directions wasn’t complied with,” he said. Earlier, in November, 2016, Delhi govt had submitted satellite imagery pertaining to 2011, 2014 and 2015 to the court to enable it to determine the extent of illegal constructions from 2007-2016. This was supplied by Geo Spatial Delhi Ltd, run by the Delhi govt. The court had asked for the images as it did not “trust” the MCD’s affidavit and had said that SDMC was “trying to cover up”, and its report submitted to the court was “an eyewash”. The court had said in the previous hearing that after comparing the maps with Google images for the same period, it would point out changes and unauthorised constructions and will give time to SDMC to “come clean” and warned that if no action was taken thereafter, “then we will order a CBI probe”. MCD has often faced such ire. In 2011, a Rohini resident moved a second RTI appeal before the Central Information Commission after the MCD, in response to his RTI application seeking details of buildings under construction in Sainik Farms, simply replied, “No building is under construction.” Information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi reprimanded the MCD and passed an order that a list of 120 illegal constructions reported by Delhi Police to the MCD be given to the respondent. MCD’s DC (South) was also directed to enquire into the whole matter and act against the official who provided false information to the RTI applicant. We tried to reach out to HPS Sran (IAS, AGMUT 2007), MD of Geo Spatial Delhi Ltd regarding the current status of the project to map the colony for illegal constructions, but he wasn’t available till the time of going to press. We are in the process of filing RTI queries with ISRO, Geological Survey of India and Geo Spatial Delhi Ltd to obtain detailed information about colony’s mapping. If any resident would like to provide us with information regarding any past or ongoing illegal construction, please email, message or call us. Your identity would be kept confidential and the information will be relayed to DM (South), DC (South), MCD and Joint Commissioner of Police (Vigilance) etc, on behalf of the newspaper. As per a Supreme Court order, a journalist cannot be asked to reveal their sources. We have also informed the Commissioner of Police against any possible threat to our staff. If necessary, we will move the High Court. We strive to act as a sentinel on the qui vive as far as the interests and welfare of the colony’s residents is concerned.
