South Delhi civic body gets a week to verify status of Sainik Farm buildings

NEW DELHI: Delhi high court on Tuesday gave a week’s time to South Delhi Municipal Corporation to verify the status of 155 properties in Sainik Farm area.
A bench of chief justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anup J Bhambhani asked the corporation to examine these properties, after the local residents association sought permission to carry out minor repairs and whitewashing on those buildings.
For the past few decades, HC has imposed a blanket ban on the inflow of any building materials in the area.The residents had moved court complaining that due to the total ban on construction activity, even minor repairs and whitewashes are not being permitted by the authorities, including SDMC and Delhi Police.
On the last date of hearing, the bench had asked the residents association to file affidavits giving details of the properties that need minor repairs. Appearing for SDMC, standing counsel Sanjeev Sabharwal urged the court to give the agency time to carry out an inspection of the premises and verify if these need actual repairs or not.
HC has been monitoring efforts by the civic bodies and the police to check unauthorised constructions in Sainik Farm, even as it had earlier questioned the Centre on status of the scheme forwarded by Delhi government for regularising colonies including the upscale colony in south Delhi.
Last year, while HC had left it to the Special Task Force to take care of individual complaints of illegal construction in the city. It had disposed of PILs seeking demolition of the illegal constructions there and asked the petitioners to approach the Supreme Court-appointed committee which is looking into unauthorised building activity. However, it kept the issue of regularisation pending. Last year the Centre had set up to examine the feasibility of regularising unauthorised colonies.