The Urban Development Department recently informed the Delhi Legislative Assembly that 12 areas of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi registered 76,465 cases of illegal construction in 10 years – from January 1, 2015 to March 17, 2025 – but only 35,842 cases were initiated.
The assembly was also informed that 11,903 properties were sealed, and only 683 were ignored after completing the formalities required by the owners during the same period. During the budget session, information was provided in response to an unstable question asked by AAP MLA Journal Singh.
The civil body clarified that strict action was taken according to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act if the construction of demold structures was re -found. If the seal was broken, an FIR was filed at the local police station.
However, experts surprised the Building Department on an average booking of 7,600-odd properties in a year and claimed the widespread spread of unauthorized construction activities across the city. He claimed that many factors, including ineffective enforcement, political intervention, lack of manpower, corruption and delay in registration of complaints, were due to increase in illegal construction activities.
According to internal sources, the provision of development of residential, commercial and other areas was specified, with the notification of the Delhi 1962 master plan, and the building bylaws were implemented for zone-wise development. But within 10 years, about 45 percent of Delhi saw illegal construction. He said that most of the illegality escaped action due to political intervention.
'Continuous migration of people from other states in search of employment put a lot of pressure on the house. People resorted to illegal expansion in their homes to accommodate large families. The government planned to develop satellite cities like Meerut and Faridabad with all the facilities for the people and only came to Delhi to work, but the experiments never succeeded, leading to illegal construction and unauthorized colonies, 'a specialist.
Former MCD Commissioner KS Mehra said that illegal construction can only be freed for strict implementation of criteria and officers to function.
A MCD official said that illegal constructions were booked after verifying their situation through area inspections and documents. 'We receive a lot of complaints about illegal construction or expansion every day, but all complaints are not correct. Due to hostility and other reasons, people often file complaints, often found to be untrue, 'the official said.
'The fact is that we are small employees. Even if we fill all the approved positions, they are inadequate to effectively cover the entire city, 'an official said.
In response to the question, MCD clarified that the demolition was executed according to the DMC Act. It states that none of its 12 areas reported any example of the owner of the reconstruction of the property. Civic body said, “If a seal breaks during inspection, an FIR is lodged,” Civic body said.
Aditya Sharma, a structural engineer working with MCD, said that 70 percent of Delhi had unauthorized areas. 'Data presented by MCD belongs to authorized areas where illegal construction was done. He said that 90-95 percent people do not contact MCD to complete MCD (which is not mandatory), it is difficult to identify illegal construction or book properties easily, 'he said.
