Tag: Delhi

Supreme Court says Delhi lieutenant governor has to act on the advice of ministers: Key takeaways

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In a major victory for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Supreme Court on Wednesday said Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal did not have independent decision making powers, and that he was bound to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers.

Key highlight: The judgement pronounced in the court by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who was heading the Constitution bench, also held that the LG cannot act as an “obstructionist”.

Major takeaways:

• The Supreme Court said the Lieutenant Governor has no absolute powers as Delhi is not a full state, and that the status of the Lieutenant Governor was not similar to that of governors of other states.
• The executive branch would have to conform to laws made by the parliament, the apex court said.
• The Lieutenant Governor would have to act on the aid and advise of the council of ministers to implement the president’s decision.
• Neither state nor LG should feel lionized, but realise they are serving Constitutional obligations* There is no space for absolutism or anarchy in our Constitution
• Except for three issues, including land and law and order, Delhi government has the power to legislate and govern on other issues.

The decision is a major victory for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP government, which has been in a constant tug of war with the Lieutenant Governor over the power wielded by the two branches of the executive.

It was ruling on a batch of appeals filed by Kejriwal’s government challenging the Delhi High Court’s order holding the Lieutenant Governor as the administrative head of the national capital.

Virtually disagreeing with the High Court order, the Supreme Court said the Lieutenant Governor should not act in a mechanical manner and stall the decisions of the Council of Ministers.

It said the Lieutenant Governor has not been entrusted with independent powers and he can refer issues on difference of opinion to the President only in exceptional matters and not as a general rule.

The LG needs to work harmoniously with the Council of Ministers and an attempt should be made to settle the difference of opinion with discussions, the apex court said.

In his separate verdict, concurring with the rest of the judges, Justice Chandrachud said the real power vests with Council of Ministers and the Lieutenant Governor must bear in mind that it is not he but the Council of Ministers that will take the decisions.

The judge also said the Lieutenant Governor must realise that the Council of Ministers is answerable to the people.

“There is no independent authority vested with lieutenant Gogernor to take independent decisions,” he said.

Justice Bhushan, who also penned a separate but concurring verdict, said all routine matters do not require consonance of the lieutenant governor.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Mild earthquake in Haryana’s Sonepat, tremors felt in Delhi

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Mild tremors were felt in the Delhi-NCR and some other parts other parts of north India after an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter Scale hit Haryana’s Sonepat district and its adjoining areas. According to the India Metrological Department, the earthquake hit Sonepat, which is around 40 KM from the national capital, at 3.37 PM today.

There were no immediate reports of loss of life or damage to property from anywhere, officials said.

The tremors, which lasted for a few seconds, were felt in Sonepat and several adjoining districts of Haryana, besides the National Capital Region and New Delhi.

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NDMC panel gives nod to lease out Town Hall to run it as heritage hotel-cum-museum

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Lying in neglect for years, Delhi’s historic Town Hall is all set to regain its glory, as the area’s civic body on Wednesday cleared a proposal to lease out the over 150-year-old heritage landmark to a private player to run a hotel-cum museum.

The standing committee of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) while approving the decision, imposed certain restrictions to ensure that the architectural integrity of the iconic Victorian-era mansion remains intact.

Built in the 1860s, originally known as the Lawrence Institute, the hall was the seat of the Delhi Municipality and is a Grade I structure, the highest ranking for any heritage building that forbids any change in its facade and original design.

NDMC standing committee chairperson Veena Virmani told reporters that the building would be leased out for a period of 33 years on an “as is where is basis” for a monthly licensing fee of Rs 1.96 crore.

A “global tender” will be floated to select the licencee and the NDMC would want the best in the hospitality sector to bid for it.

“The licencee shall also use ‘Town Hall’ in naming the hotel. Town Hall is our pride and part of the city history, and so if the original name is not there then its identity would be lost,” she said.

Virmani said restrictions include not changing the old design elements of the building, and the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Town Hall has to be in keeping with norms of the central government’s Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC).

The gardens in the front and back portions of the sprawling premises will remain as green areas in the overall redevelopment plan, she said.

The redevelopment plan seeks a conservation of the Victorian-era mansion that will also house a museum, retelling the history of Delhi, the centre-piece of the attractions that are to be built.

A craft baazar, a dancing fountain, a maze, light and sound programmes, street food, children activity area, restaurant, courtyard and sculpture garden, digital library, lecture rooms, fine dining areas, are also planned to be developed in its premises.

The cash-strapped corporation had decided to go for this new model for redevelopment, after its Centre-funded restoration plan got shelved.

After trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Town Hall housed the NDMC until it shifted to a swanky, multi-storeyed Civic Centre on the Minto Road here.

Asked, if public entry to access the museum would be paid for or free-of-cost, Virmani, said, “Let the tendering process be over. Other modalities can be deliberated and incorporated later.”

The NDMC has been toying with the restoration and redevelopment plan for the last few years, but had not been able to make much headway.

The Union Tourism Ministry had in early 2014 cleared a Rs 50 crore heritage renewal project for the building, but the fund release was subject to preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) by the NDMC.

The civic body could not come up with the DPR for the restoration of the Town Hall, one of the finest heritage buildings in the city.

Lying in neglect for a long time, the last restoration plan was to breath a fresh lease of life in it, but “bureaucratic delays” had shelved it.

The then North Delhi mayor Preety Agarwal last year had said that the Town Hall would be redeveloped as an attractive tourist destination with “international standards” after which the city landmark would emerge as a centre of cultural and social heritage, depicting the history, culture and the life of Delhi.

The redevelopment project is also expected to earn good revenue for the BJP-led corporation that has been facing financial crunch for the past several years.

After lying in doldrums, the fresh redevelopment plan has come has a much-desired fillip the Raj-era building needed that has seen the era of trams and Gothic clock-tower pass by in front of it.

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Who bears the cost of cutting trees for ‘development’?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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It was a bit like Chipko movement in Delhi earlier this week.

Hundreds of citizens turned up to hug trees and protest the felling of almost 17,000 to create homes for government officials and commercial complexes.

Although a court in Delhi has placed a stay on chopping of trees for now, the event once again raises the eternal conundrum of development – how do you develop without damaging the environment (too much)?

There is an environmental cost attached to development. This is not a modern phenomenon. When the first hunter gatherers settled and took up farming, they cleared the forest to build farms. Later, when cities came up and grand palaces were built, forests were cut, both to clear the land and as building material.

In the Mahabharat there is the story of the forest of Kandhavprastha, which the Pandavas clear to build their capital – Indraprastha.  However, in the pre industrial era, the type of growth, as well as relatively smaller populations ensured that a certain balance was maintained between development and nature.

The modern world is different. Not only is their unprecedented mass industrial growth but also a booming population. There are 7.6 billion people inhabiting the planet and over 17 percent of this lives in India. People need space, jobs, food, and energy – at the very least. And, that is going to be produced at the expense of some amount of environmental damage.

When cities, homes, factories, railway lines and ports come up, they replace trees, and forests that stood there. Hills are demolished to make way for housing. When factories fire up, they are going to emit something into the atmosphere, that is going to make the quality of air worse. When industries come up next to water bodies, there is going to be water pollution. And, when we expand the farm cover, it is at the cost of forests. There is a trade-off between development and environment and it will always be there.

The question is, who bears the cost, who reaps the profits, and what is the trade off?

What we are seeing across the country and the globe, are citizens refusing to take on the externalities of development. Externalities are negative consequences of an economic activity on unrelated third parties.

For example, in Toothukudy in Tamil Nadu local residents were protesting the environmental impact of an economic activity – the Vedanta copper smelter. The company sold the copper. Buyers bought the copper. The community bore the brunt of this transaction. The economic gain to the community was considered less than the cost imposed by pollution. Governments usually try and mitigate an externality with a tax – a pollution tax, for example – but that is usually not seen as being enough to mitigate the damage to the local community.

Recently in Maharashtra, we have seen another type of policy making that has impacted one particular community – the community of plastic manufacturers. The much needed ban on single use plastic, has come into play. The purpose – to reduce pollution, and protect the environment. The action has consequences on profits, production and jobs.

The question every policy makers faces is simple. How do you minimise the cost to others from an economic activity? The simplest answer to that would be to involve the community and show them, in tangible terms, how they will benefit from the development. Make them stakeholders and help them make the transition. Much of development gets stuck because of top down diktats, that doesn’t have a buy in from the community. And, where all that they get from the project are externalities.

Delhi’s tree cutting saga, is a metaphor of development woes across the country. That Indian cities, and India, needs their green cover is not in question. The question also is not whether India needs to develop fast – she does. The question is how do get them to co-exist?

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Delhi High Court stays cutting of trees till July 4

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In a relief to residents, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked authorities not to axe till July 4 the 16,500 trees sanctioned by the Centre for the redevelopment of six south Delhi colonies.

A bench of Justice Vinod Goel and Justice Rekha Palli directed the National Buildings Construction Corp (NBCC) not to cut the trees till the next date of hearing on July 4.

The court also permitted the petitioner to challenge the orders passed by the authorities giving permission to cut the trees for these residential projects.

During the hearing, the court asked NBCC: “You know the effect it would have? I understand if it was widening of a road or something inevitable. Can Delhi afford it today? Keep your hands off till July 4?”

The petitioner, an orthopaedic surgeon, has sought the setting aside of the terms of reference and the environment clearances granted to the project by the Environment Ministry, saying it would lead to felling of over 16,500 trees.

The six south Delhi colonies where the trees would be felled are Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Thyagaraja Nagar, Mohammadpur and Kasturba Nagar, the petition by Kaushal Kant Mishra said.

All these areas are home to government employees where the central government is pulling down houses built in the 1950 and replacing them with high-rise buildings.

Besides the NBCC, the project is also being executed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

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India’s water demand to be double the supply by 2030, says NITI Aayog report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India is undergoing the worst water crisis in its history, according to a report by the government think-tank, NITI Aayog.

India’s water demand is estimated to double the supply by 2030 and around 21 cities in India including Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai will run out of groundwater if no preventive actions are taken, the report added.

Already, more than 600 million people are facing acute water shortages and about 200,000 Indians die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.

With droughts becoming more frequent in India, it’s creating severe problems for farmers as 53% of India’s agriculture is still rain-fed.

Even the groundwater resources in India, which account for 40% of the water supply, are at an alarming stage and are being depleted at unsustainable rates.

And when water is available, it’s likely to be contaminated. According to the report, up to 70% of our water supply in India is contaminated.

At the same time, disputes between states are on the rise. Currently, seven such arguments are underway, the report highlights.

The State of States

The NITI Aayog has developed a Composite Water Management Index for 24 Indian states, which assess and ranks states’ composite performance on water resource management on nine parameters covering resource augmentation, supply infrastructure, demand management, watershed development, water supply and sanitation in rural and urban areas, and policy and water governance.

Among the states, Gujarat tops the ranking followed by Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh.

Other than these three states, there are seven states which are classified as medium performers (with a water composite index score in 50-65 range).

However, the majority of the states analysed in this report are low performers, with a score below 50.

Interestingly, several of the high and medium performer states – Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana are the water scarce states. These are states that have suffered from severe droughts in recent years.

“The action taken by these states and their subsequent good performance on the Index, are likely driven by necessity in the face of looming water shortages. This correlation shows, positively, that corrective action is starting in at least some of the areas that need it the most,” the report highlights.

The Trouble With The East

The north-eastern and Himalayan states are among the worst performers according to the report.

States like Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Assam have the lowest scores out of all states.

“This is possibly due to a combination of high water availability, which reduces the imminence for water management and policy action, and the limited availability of monetary resources for investment-heavy programmes such as micro-irrigation,” the report said.

However, there are some outliers such as Tripura and Himachal Pradesh with an index score above 50.

According to the report, the states have performed well mostly due to supply-side management (irrigation and watershed development) and water-supply provision (rural and urban) measures taken by them.

Food Security Risk

The low performer states on the Water Index are home to 50% of the country’s population. It includes populous northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana.

Moreover, these states also account for 20-30% of India’s agricultural output.

“Given the combination of rapidly declining groundwater levels and limited policy action (as indicated by the low index score), this is also likely to be a significant food security risk for the country going forward,” the report added.

Silver Lining

Out of 24 states analysed in the report, 15 states have improved their scores in 2016-17 as compared to the previous fiscal.

Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Sikkim have shown tremendous improvement in their index scores over last year. Rajasthan has improved scores across all the nine parameters.

“Rajasthan has also received a $100 million loan from the New Development Bank (NDB) in 2018 to improve the Indira Gandhi Canal system, water body restoration expected to be critical activities in the proposed plan, the report said.

Laggards

On the other hand, nine states have experienced a decline in scores.

According to the report, these declines have been concentrated in groundwater augmentation, irrigation and rural drinking water.

Uttarakhand was the major loser, with a 10 point decline primarily driven by fall in the reach and quality of provision of rural and urban drinking water.

Other states such as Odisha and Tamil Nadu have seen scores decline.

While Odisha also missed its canal lining targets and Tamil Nadu has not been able to utilise the potential of its irrigation assets to the fullest.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Stamping of boarding cards at airports may soon become history, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Soon domestic flyers from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru may not need their boarding cards stamped after clearing pre-embarkation frisking, reported The Times of India.

According to the report, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has approached Delhi and Bengaluru airports to carry out the pilot project that will end the practice of frisking.

“Hyderabad has already done a pilot for this. We are asking Delhi and Bengaluru to do the same. Boarding card stamping need not end only when the bigger diga-yatra (paperless biometric boarding for domestic flyers) project kicks off and it can happen earlier at some airports,” a senior CISF official was quoted saying in the report.

Earlier, the report said, CISF and aviation authorities had also stopped stamping hand bag tags at several airports.

The development comes after CISF’s new Director General Rajesh Ranjan recently told The Times of India that he ‘wanted to enhance passenger experience at airports by taking steps like stopping boarding card stamping.’

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow