NEW DELHI: Training his guns on the Delhi government over the Anaj Mandi fire incident that claimed 43 lives, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday accused the AAP dispensation of stalling a notification for the redevelopment plan of an area in Old Delhi.
The Delhi government, hit back, by saying that the statement issued by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation had “glaring factual inaccuracies and prima facie errors.”
Taking to Twitter, Puri posted several written communications sent by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to the Delhi government’s urban development department with regards to issuance of notification for redevelopment plan of ‘Special Area’.
“The resolution was sent to Delhi Govt on 12.09.2017 for notification in the official gazette. They wrote back after 8 months on 11.05.2018 wanting to know under what section of DMC Act was this proposal sent to them. Eight Months,” he tweeted.
The Kejriwal-led AAP government, in its rebuttal said denied all the above accusation, saying, “Not only did Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain receive this file on 26th August this year and he immediately cleared it within less than 24 hours, the facts with regards to ‘Redevelopment of Special Area of Old Delhi’ are startling.”
According to the AAP government, under the chairmanship of Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain, the SRDC had decided to forward the Preliminary Project Report (PPR) prepared for revitalisation of Shahjahanabad to the Ministry of Urban Development for its consideration.
Later at night, Puri launched another attack on the AAP government, terming’s the official statement as “misleading”. “...Those in the highest echelons of power in Delhi Govt have not realised the seriousness of the loss of 43 human beings in a devastating tragedy. So they (Delhi government) continue to engage in frivolous statements,” he added.
The revitalisation plan aims at encouraging socio-cultural and architectural heritage, stimulating local economy and improving basic amenities like access to water and sanitation.
False claims
The AAP government claims that the Union ministry is spreading false claims about the Redevelopment Plan for the Special Area. It also questioned the ministry’s non-cooperation in the proposal submitted to them.