MCD's height of negligence?

MCD Civic Centre to be inaugurated on Thursday despite lacking safety clearances

April 22 will be a high point for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), as it is the inauguration day of its new address. The Rs 650 crore civic centre, with 28 floors, will bring under one roof the deliberative wing and different offices of the MCD, which looks after 96 per cent of areas of Delhi.


Low point The MCD commissioner has confirmed that the agency has
not secured mandatory clearancesu00a0 for the civic centre worth Rs 650 crore.u00a0
file pic

But the city's tallest building is set for inauguration on Thursday even though the MCD is yet to procure mandatory clearances from various departments. Sources in the civic body said, the MCD has not yet got the approval of the Delhi Fire Service department which gives fire safety clearance and the civic body's own Building department, which issues the structural safety certificate for all the buildings in the city.

"Our team had visited the building around 15 days ago.u00a0 The team was not satisfied. So, we had suggested some modifications. MCD has not reverted back to us so far. Whenever they do so, our team will go to inspect the structure. No fire clearances have been granted to them," said RC Sharma, chief fire officer, Delhi.

MCD commissioner KS Mehra confirmed that the agency has not secured the various mandatory clearances from the different departments. "It is in the process. By the time we occupy the building all the clearances would be secured," said Mehra.

So what was the need to inaugurate the building in such a hurry?u00a0 No one has any clear answers. Sources say that it could take about four more months before the MCD moves into its new address. " We had orders from seniors to complete the work as soon as possible as the building had to be inaugurated by April-end," said a senior official associated with the civic centre project.