Delhi HC: Review move to trifurcate MCD

Taking note of the discrimination in basic facilities to the citizens of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), the Delhi High Court has asked the Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the Ministry of Urban Development to review the move to trifurcate the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

The directions come after a bunch of petitions were filed challenging a notice issued by the NDMC on June 21. The notice directed the petitioners to vacate the staff quarters occupied by them after the Standing Committee passed a resolution "to develop 10 such projects for revenue generation".

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Harishankar noted that the lack of funds has always been a grievance of the NDMCand the EDMC. However, no such complains have been made by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).

"This matter deserves the attention of the L-G and Ministry of Urban Development. A view needs to be taken by the L-G and Ministry of Urban Development as to why citizens in NDMC and EDMC are being deprived of several advantages and facilities which are available to the residents of south Delhi. A view also needs to be taken with regard to efficacy and utility of the division of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi in three corporations," the court said in its order.

The court held that rationalisation has to be undertaken of the allocation of funds/availability of finances to these municipal corporations.

"The residents of East Delhi Municipal Corporation or North Delhi Municipal Corporation cannot be placed at adjacent advantage vis-a-vis the residents of South Delhi," the bench noted.              

The bench also put a stay on the notice issued by the NDMC to vacate the staff quarters thereby listing the matter for January 15 next year.

The trifurcation of MCD that took place in 2012 had made north and east corporations financially weaker than their southern counterpart due to uneven distribution of assets. Both north and east civic bodies have been struggling to release salaries to their employees for the past two years. There have been multiple strikes by the sanitation staff during this period.