25 November,2010 02:12 PM IST | | Shashank Shekhar and Amit Singh
2009 video shows parties discussing plans of construction on a plot of land; a year later an illegal multi-storey building stands at the spot
A man-made disaster that claimed 70 lives should have been enough to bring about a sea change in the functioning of Delhi's government departments. But the ripples created by the Lalita Park tragedy seem to have settled down and so have the civic agencies, oblivious of many more such catastrophes awaiting their turn.
A resident of Shaheen Bagh in southeast Delhi, Nabeel has come forward with a video that reaffirms the existence of a nexus between private builders and the police in the creation of thousands of unauthorised buildings that exist in the Capital, with many more being added everyday.
The video which was shot around a year ago shows truck drivers and contractors complaining about how they bribed the local police with Rs 5,000 to bring in construction material for an illegal structure.
"I shot this video almost a year ago. I could see the contractor who was building this house bribing the police each time he would bring in construction material. So I decided to record their conversation. The truck driver told me that he paid Rs 5,000 to bring the supplies. In the video the contractor also confesses that the construction is illegal," said Nabeel, who is in his late twenties.
"I even clicked some pictures where a policeman is talking to the contractor. At that time I tried taking this to various news channels but nobody was interested. Now when the Lalita Park tragedy has occurred, the importance can be understood. Our area also lies near the Yamuna river bed. To stop such accidents, these things must be nipped in the bud," said Nabeel.
When MiD DAY visited the spot on Thursday, we found a multi-storey building with four floors and a basement standing there. If one follows the norm, the building cnnot be constructed.
Most of the construction in Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar area is unauthorised. Since it was notified as a 'rural' area where buildings could be raised without getting plans sanctioned, illegal construction was rampant till 2007, when, under the 2021 masterplan, a scheme for regularisation was initiated by the city government. Now, residents say they cannot undertake repair work as "policemen do not allow a single brick to enter the area".
Nadeem Khan, a resident of the area said: "Still there are many unauthorised buildings being constructed by local builders with protection from police. You can easily find buildings with five or six floors when there's permission for just three. No safety norms are followed by the builders."
| Fatal lapes |
| The tragic incident of Lalita Park could have been averted had the Delhi Government acted on the FIR lodged by Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi with Delhi Police and letter sent to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit exposing 'rampant' illegal construction in the city. |
| Root cause |
| When Lalita Park, along with several other colonies in east Delhi, was regularised in 1983, the government took all factors such as layout plans and civic facilities into account. But the policy makers forgot to take one of the most important aspects of a building into account - its structural safety. |
