Hardeep Singh Puri points out flaws in sealing drive, says 'humane approach' needed

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri pointed out a number of loopholes in the sealing drive being conducted in the Capital on Wednesday. The remarks came a day after the Supreme Court stayed any construction that is not in conformity with building bye-laws in as many as 1,700 unauthorised colonies in the city.

Puri also said that it is unfair that even those shops have been shut that have paid conversion charges while a large number of people have been rendered jobless.

"The problem of Delhi's unauthourised construction has to be solved in a humane and constructive manner. I don't want to interfere with the process or direction of the court. But it is our responsibility to understand the issue holistically," Puri said.

There are many properties which had to be de-sealed later on. Nobody in the government disagrees with the court's directions to stop further construction activity in unauthourised colonies. However, there are ground realities behind the issue, he said.

"Why are people poor? Why are they living in sub-standard houses? These are real human issues which need to be resolved," the minister said.

The Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee has been conducting the sealing drive for violations in the Delhi Master Plan-2021. While the Master Plan was prepared in 2006, there have been voluminous changes in the demographics of the city.

Puri had also flagged the sealing issue on Tuesday saying that members of the monitoring committee who work from air-conditioned spaces are unaware of the ground realities.

"Do you know how many people have lost their jobs? I am not criticising sealing but saying that sealing has to be situated in larger human reality. Till you don't understand the ground realities, there is no point talking about technicalities," Puri had said on the sidelines of an event.

Puri also said that he hoped that the apex court would finally lift the stay on the amendments proposed to the Master Plan by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in order to allow relief to businessmen. The DDA had drawn a flak from both the court and the traders for proposing amendments to the plan in haste in a haphazard manner.

WHAT THE SC SAID

• The SC in its order on Tuesday had put a stay on any construction activity that is not in confirmation of building bye-laws in the 1,791 unauthoursied colonies in the Capital. The Supreme Court said that unauthoursied colonies cannot be placed in a better position than regularised colonies.