Pre-schools survey, new gaushalas: Delhi civic body panel clears 58 proposals

The committee approved audits for waste management, proposed new hospital and college projects under PPP, and plans to convert rural villages into urban areas.

The Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Tuesday cleared more than 58 policy matters that had remained pending since March, in a marathon meeting lasting over four hours after the key panel was reconstituted.

The Delhi Civic Body directed officials to survey all illegal pre-schools and creches operating across Delhi and take action against those found violating regulations. (HT File)

Among the decisions, the committee directed officials to survey all illegal pre-schools and creches operating across Delhi and take action against those found violating regulations, following the recent alleged assault of a child at a pre-school in east Delhi.

Other proposals approved included engaging IIT Delhi to conduct an audit, gap analysis and ward-wise waste management plans; setting up a super-speciality hospital and medical college at the Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis (RBIPMT) under a public-private partnership (PPP) model; and new layout plans for constructing new blocks and buildings at Hindu College and Hansraj College in Delhi University’s north campus.

The committee also approved the commissioner’s report proposing creation of an enforcement cell with 21 teams to tackle illegal construction in 1,511 unauthorised colonies, besides several proposals relating to infrastructure expansion and revised layout plans.

The panel also announced that is has decided to approach the Delhi government for land to set up new gaushalas, citing pressure on the four existing facilities, which officials said were operating beyond capacity.

Standing Committee chairperson Satya Sharma said several proposals had been pending for four to five months and that the panel had cleared matters involving public interest.

“We also took note of illegal play schools being operated in Delhi and directed the concerned officials to identify such institutions and take action as per rules, while ensuring strict compliance with safety standards concerning children,” Sharma said.

Members of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (APP) had raised concerns over the large number of pre-primary and nursery schools operating outside the regulatory framework, citing the recent Maujpur incident.

AAP members, however, objected to anticipatory approvals for several large projects, including the appointment of a private toll-tax operator and a new concessionaire for waste collection and transportation in the Central and West zones. They alleged irregularities in the proposals, which were nevertheless cleared by the BJP-majority panel.

The committee also discussed the stray cattle menace, swine flu, the condition of MCD schools, protection of heritage buildings and Delhi’s garbage crisis.

To be sure, the MCD’s powerful Standing Committee had not met since March because the posts of chairperson and deputy chairperson remained vacant after the previous tenure ended, resulting in a substantial backlog of policy proposals.

MCD commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar said new waste collection agencies for the South, West and Central zones would be fully operational by October 31, while existing contracts in the North and North-West zones were being reviewed. He added that deployment of mechanical road sweepers would begin by November, with some new battery-operated machines being airlifted(as opposed to being shipped by sea) because of the ongoing geopolitical crisis in West Asia.

The panel also approved a proposal to convert 48 rural villages into urban villages, paving the way for greater development activity and bringing them fully under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (DMC Act).

Another proposal approved the replacement of streetlights in six of MCD’s 12 zones, covering North and Outer Delhi. The six zones have around 312,000 streetlights, with LED lights installed between 2012 and 2022.

The new intelligent lighting system will allow lights to be dimmed when ambient light is sufficient and is expected to save around ₹5 crore annually in electricity costs, a senior MCD official said.

The committee also cleared a ₹2-crore project with IIT Delhi for baseline assessment and gap analysis of Delhi’s waste management system.