Delhi municipality clears delayed public utility projects after long wait of 2.5 years

The standing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday approved a slew of long-pending infrastructure proposals, including a multilevel parking project, a new waste processing facility at Ghazipur, road and streetlight revamps in south and west Delhi, and sanitation upgrades - in a significant policy push after a prolonged delay.

- Paras Singh

The approvals come after more than two and a half years of deadlock, caused by political and legal disputes over the formation of the standing committee.

This was only the second meeting of the newly constituted panel, which reviewed over 130 policy proposals and layout plan changes. Officials said that 23 of 130 resolutions were cleared.

Parking, lighting, roads

A senior MCD official said that the panel has cleared the proposal for an automated multilevel puzzle parking facility at Bharat Darshan Park in Punjabi Bagh, which will accommodate 188 vehicles.

“The parking facility will help ease congestion at this busy west Delhi junction near a high-foot-fall tourist attraction,” the official said.

The panel also gave its nod to a comprehensive project for the operation and maintenance of streetlight infrastructure in the south, central, west, and Najafgarh zones. “This will help upgrade the existing LED network in areas formerly under the South MCD,” the official added.

Chairperson of the committee Satya Sharma, announced that the panel has approved the “One Road-One Day” initiative.

Waste management

It also cleared a long-stalled proposal to set up an ingesta and dung drying processing plant at the Ghazipur slaughterhouse — Delhi's only licensed slaughter facility.

The project had been repeatedly flagged by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had asked MCD to ensure scientific disposal of slaughter waste.

In May 2022, operations at Ghazipur slaughterhouse were suspended.

The move came after the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) withdrew consent, citing NGT's directions and violation of environmental norms.