NEW DELHI: Invoking his special power, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Monday gave approval to 11 important projects related to city infrastructure such as construction of Dwarka Expressway package II.
The projects were pending clearance at environment department for 3 years, officials at the L-G secretariat informed.
According to the officials, Saxena invoked his powers to recall files in terms of Rule 19(5) of the Transaction of Business of the GNCTD Rules (ToBR), 1993, for the Delhi Government to finally send files of 11 infrastructural projects to the L-G house for approval.
The officials said those files were related to clearances for translocation/afforestation of trees which were pending with the environment department for up to three years. “Once the L-G Secretariat invoked the said rule, files that were pending for years without any reason, were duly approved and signed by the Environment Minister and the Chief Minister within days and sent to the L-G for approval,” a senior
official said.
The officials said that the L-G had consistently raised this issue of the “inordinate delay” by the environment department with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in many of their meetings.
He wrote twice to the chief minister on August 17 and September 30 “flagging the inordinate and unexplained delay in granting permissions by the Environment Department”, and asked him to ensure speedy disposal.
Apart from this, while clearing the file for construction in IIT Delhi, which had been pending approval for more than an year and half, the L-G said that clearance for such projects of national importance be expedited, they added.
Other proposals in this regard included, construction of CISF Residential Quarters at Saket, construction of Road Over Bridge and Road under Bridge at Sultanpuri, Nangloi, Group Housing Residential Project at Roshanara Road, road construction on stretch between Parmanand Chowk to Kingsway Camp and the widening of Burari Road.
L-G asked CM to take action over ‘inordinate delay’
The officials said that the L-G had consistently raised this issue of the “inordinate delay” by the environment department with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in many of their meetings. He wrote twice to the chief minister on August 17 and September 30, flagging the issue.