CM, MCD, cops blame each other
The Chandni Mahal building collapse in the Walled City has opened a slugfest of blamegame among the Congress-led Delhi government, BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi police.
A day after the collapse in which seven people lost their lives, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit made a bid to put the MCD in a corner by suggesting that illegal constructions in the area had been a major concern.
The MCD on the other hand attempted to deflect the blame towards the Delhi police by saying that the civic body had informed them about dangerous digging activity being carried out by the owner a fortnight ago.
The police has, however, registered a case in the incident. The MCD, meanwhile, has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the building collapse incident to ascertain whether the owner had connived with its officials in illegal construction activities.
Meanwhile, the chief minister, accompanied by Delhi health minister A.K. Walia visited the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, where 21 injured persons are presently being treated out of which three are stated to be serious, and announced ex-gratia amount for the next of kin of the deceased and injured persons respectively. In case of death of a major person, an amount of `2 lakh and in case of death of a minor person an amount of `1 lakh will be granted. In case of a serious injury, an amount of `50,000 will be granted as assistance. Also, an amount of `1 lakh will be released as financial assistance in case someone is orphaned.
As far as blamegame is concerned, Ms Dikshit said, “I don’t want to point fingers at anybody but those who are responsible for the incident, be it MCD or police, must take responsibility and take corrective steps.”
Delhi food and civil supplies minister Harun Yusuf, who is also an MLA of nearby Ballimaran Assembly constituency, had charged the MCD for the collapse, saying locals had approached the civic body several times but they never bothered to take any precautionary measures.
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