Seeking relief for minor violators of building laws in the capital, the Centre on Thursday sought three months' time from the Delhi High Court for preparing a comprehensive plan on dealing with illegal constructions and urged that action be limited to major violators during this period.
In an affidavit filed along with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Union Urban Development Ministry urged the Court that in the coming three months, three categories of major violators - encroachments on government land, ongoing illegal constructions and commercial establishments in residential areas - be targeted in the demolition drive.
The Centre stated that residential buildings housing commercial establishments in half or more than half of their areas along roads wider than 80 feet be targeted as per the Supreme Court's directions. The Court was informed that the Centre has formed an experts' committee to assess the magnitude of the problem and suggest a comprehensive strategy to deal with it.
The committee, it said, will be submitting its report in three months time. The affidavit is likely to come up for hearing on Friday. "We clearly do not want the major violators to be spared. We should catch the big fish. But we definitely want to give relief to small violations in houses," Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken told reporters.