Delhi's multiple civic agencies causing functional overlap

The multiplicity of commands causes complexity and leads to skepticism as with functional overlaps.
Delhi's multiple civic agencies causing functional overlap

The multiplicity of agencies involved in planning and developing Delhi’s urban infrastructure has proved to be a major roadblock in the capital’s growth path. These agencies that perform similar roles in the areas of their jurisdiction cause complexity in delivering services – leading to delays, lack of accountability and unresponsiveness.

Roads in the city are maintained by agencies such as MCD, DDA, NDMC, PWD, CPWD and Delhi Cantt Board. Similarly, land in Delhi comes under seven different agencies – DDA, CPWD, L&DO, DSIDC, MCD, NDMC and Cantt Board. There are four separate entities – DDA, NDMC, MCD & CPWD – that are responsible for urban planning and development.

Besides, four different agencies Delhi Jal Board, MCD, NDMC and Cantt Board are entrusted with sanitation and water supply in the city.

If experts are to be believed, dismantling the multiple agencies – and overhauling them – is the only way to reduce critical delays in delivering public services and developmental activities and put the national capital on track. The multiplicity of commands causes complexity and leads to skepticism as with functional overlaps.

It also leads to confusion among people and even officials as similar functions overlap with one another. Importantly, in such prevailing situations, officials’ apathetic approach and lethargic pace of work further rubbed salt into the wound as people keep running from one place to another to restore the fundamental works. There has always been confusion about to whom they should approach for resolving their issues.
Three civic bodies (earlier five) such as the New Delhi Municipal Council, MCD and Delhi Cantt Board and even some entities under the Delhi Government perform similar roles in the areas of their jurisdiction leading to complete chaos and delay in finishing projects within stipulated time. A few areas of the city even come under UP irrigation Department and it has jurisdiction there.

Politicians, bureaucrats admit to deficiencies
Talking about prevailing circumstances and the confusion created, many politicians and top bureaucrats – while speaking at various forums – had admitted that Delhi cannot become a smart city till the fighting among multiple agencies stops. “Earlier there were five civic agencies and with the unification now there are three civic agencies. This apart, governments of a single party in both Delhi government and MCD will also minimise overlapping and will pave the way for better coordination. The double-engine government will certainly ensure smooth delivery of services with minimum tussle among them,” said a former Delhi mayor.

Experts speak
Former Delhi Chief Secretary P K Tripathi said that earlier, there was no tussle in the political class over jurisdiction or overlapping of duties. “Since deliberative and executive wings worked sans political interference, there was no blame game at all. Secondly, there was no fund crisis with civic body as previous governments never stopped funds irrespective of political differences,” he said. “In many cases, MCD was not working in accord with the Delhi government, yet there was no delay in fund allocation. There was continuous dialogue between agencies to resolves issues,” he said.

The former Chief Secretary said that under the prevailing circumstances, bureaucrats have no option than working with the political party which in power. They are bound to perform amid political blame games and tussle. “A double-engine government in both MCD and Delhi Assembly is always ideal as it will minimise the blame game, bring reforms and ensure fast delivery of services. It will also minimise fund crunch as both the agencies will work under one umbrella,” he said.

“A Delhi that belongs to the DDA, a Delhi that belongs to LG, one Delhi that is of the Delhi Police, one Delhi that belongs to the NDMC. You need to bring clarity for becoming a smart city. There is hardly any coordination among these agencies for the welfare of Delhiites and they are fighting among themselves. In such circumstances, converting the present landscape of Delhi into a smarter city would not be possible,” a top Delhi politician had earlier said while participating in an event about the city’s growth.

A former senior bureaucrat had also remarked that overlapping and jurisdiction are major problems in the national capital and a major problem in the national capital due to having multiple agencies. This hampers developmental work in the city. He has elaborated that the construction permit is given by the municipal corporations, while DDA allot land for the same and it all takes a long time due to improper coordination. The concerned agencies only focus on completing their own work. In one such instance, Delhi Metro during construction of a tunnel reduced the drainage size and that affected the overall system in the areas.

Allocation of powers
More than a single authority to carry out the same work ranging from constructing roads to running hospitals, and issuing birth and death certificates. Many of the works of the municipal corporation overlap with the Delhi government as both construct and maintain roads and clean drains.
MCD collects toll tax at the borders, advertisement revenue and property tax while the Delhi government collects excise duty, service tax and value added tax on the services and commodities sold. Running hospitals and dispensaries, managing water supply, maintaining the drainage system, collecting tax, running schools and constructing roads are some of the functions which are performed by multiple agencies in Delhi that ended in skepticism and complete chaos.

Both MCD and Delhi government construct and maintain roads and clean drains. Every year due to lack of coordination among the agencies which are responsible to provide civic amenities in the city, people suffer with dengue, malaria and chikungunya outbreaks with water-logging being the ‘Achilles Heel’ of the capital.

Similarly, PWD, irrigation and flood departments of the Delhi Government, and the three municipal corporations maintain drains depending on their size and depth. Instead of desilting drains before the approaching monsoon, authorities remain busy in shifting their responsibilities knowing well that vector-borne diseases proliferate during rainy season as water accumulates in part of the city owing to choked drains, said an exasperated official not willing to be quoted.

Major agencies

PWD
Public Works Department (PWD) is the premier agency of the government of NCT of Delhi engaged in planning, designing, construction and maintenance of government assets (classified into built environments and infrastructure development). The PWD’s assets in built environments include hospitals, schools, colleges, technical institutes, police buildings, prisons, courts, among others; assets in infrastructure development include roads, bridges, flyovers, footpaths, subways, foot over bridges, among others

DDA
Since its inception in 1957, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has pioneered the process of development of the city. A Master Plan was formulated by DDA in 1962, which ensured a balanced development of Delhi by creating new residential extension areas which were self-contained and provided a healthy and secure environment. The plan was revised in 1982 and now DDA is all set to meet the challenges of accommodating needs of the projected population of 128 lakh by 2030 with its comprehensive Master Plan for Delhi, 2001

CPWD
Major functions of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) are construction and maintenance. Works are of various kinds: buildings of various kinds (residential, office, schools, hospitals, stadia, gymnasia and auditoria); intra-campus services (water and electric supply, sewerage and treatment plants, air-conditioning, campus roads, drainage, lighting and solar power); and non-building infrastructure works (highways, flyovers, tunnels, bridges, jetties, sports facilities, border fencing, airports and runways)

Delhi Jal Board
Delhi Jal Board (DJB) runs the production and distribution of potable water – after treating raw water from various sources like River Yamuna, Bhakra Storage, Upper Ganga Canal as well as ground water. DJB provides treatment and disposal of waste water. Water in bulk to the NDMC and cantt areas is also supplied by the DJB. Sewage from these areas is also collected for treatment and disposal by the DJB

NDMC
New Delhi Municipal Council deals in matters relating to taxation, revenue, budgeting, contracts, accounts and audits, streets and sanitation, public health, public safety, and suppression of nuisances

DSIIDC
New Delhi, being the national capital, epitomises the entire nation. Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (DSIIDC) has played a key role in propelling development by shaping up the Indian national capital. Since it was established in February 1971, DSIIDC has projected, aided, counselled, assisted, financed and promoted projects to transform the face of Delhi

MCD
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is one of the largest municipal bodies in the world – providing civic services to approximately 20 million urban citizens. It occupies an area of 1,397.3 sq km – which is sub-divided into 12 zones i.e. Centre, South, Najafgarh, Rohini, Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, SP-City, Keshavpuram, Narela, Shahdara North and Shahdara South. The three erstwhile civic bodies, East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North DMC) were re-unified into a single entity on May 22 this year, as a single body

Many powers of three civic agencies overlap with that of the Delhi government as both sides construct and maintain roads and clean drains. The lack of clarity about powers allocated among Delhi’s governing entities has led to huge delays, loss of accountability and unresponsiveness, reports Anup Verma

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