Private Building Archives - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

On the 10^th day of the strike, students cycled from Vishwavidyalaya station to the Lieutenant Governor’s house to seek his intervention on the matter regarding the construction of the 39 storey building in the North Campus.

The indefinite strike against the construction of the 39-storey building in the Campus by the students has been going on since 4^th November 2019. Raja Chaudhary, Coordinator of the ‘DU Against 39 Storey Private Building Committee’ has been sitting on a hunger strike since the 10^th November 2019, supported by other students, Gautam Barnwal and Kanika and a faculty of the university, Dr.Rasal Singh.

On the tenth day of the strike, a cycle rally was conducted from the place of protest near Vishvidyalaya metro station to the Lieutenant Governor’s house to seek his intervention in this matter.

Initially the Governor was reluctant to meet the student coordinator Mr. Chaudhary. However, after some deliberation, the governor conducted a meeting and appointed three officers, headed by Special Secretary Mr. Chanchal Yadav to inquire into the basis of permission given for the construction of the 39 storey private building by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi authorities and directed to submit the inquiry report within the next three days.

A letter by the students, addressed to the Lieutenant Governor, talks about the legality of the construction and the adverse effects of the constructed building. It asked the Lieutenant Governor to quash the project.

Mr. Chaudhary, in conversation with DU Beat, said, “This was the fifth day of my hunger strike. Yesterday, when we went to the LG’s house, we initially had to protest to be heard. However, now we have received assurance from the LG. We demand from the university as well that it take back the public land. Authorities from the DU are committed to building a hostel if we get the land back… Our strike will continue until we get an assurance from the Defence Ministry.”

The next meeting will be conducted after issue of the aforementioned report.

Feature Image Credits: Raja Chaudhary

Satviki Sanjay

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The University of Delhi (DU) has come face to face with the Delhi Government with regards to the construction of a 39 storey private building in North Campus.

As per a report by the India Times, DU has written a letter to the Centre, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, demanding to stop the construction work immediately.

In the year 2001, The Delhi Government had acquired three acres of land from the Ministry of Defence to construct the metro line. Only an acre was used and the rest two acres were sold to a private builder in order to build a 39 storey building.The University believes that the construction of private property would lead to great repercussions for the varsity as it threatens its educational space and can also pose a threat in terms of safety.

In 2018, varsity had written to the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Housing, lead by Mr. Durga Shankar Mishra requesting for restraining North DMC from granting any sanction to the Group Housing Projects of Young Builders Private Limited, near Vishwavidyalaya Metro station.

Delhi University’s Officer on Special Duty Mr. Vipin Tiwari talked to India Today, about this move. He stated that he had witnessed the construction of the building behind the metro station.

According to him, this poses a great threat to the University space as it’s a private building and is very close to not only four girl’s hostels but also the office of the Lieutenant Governor and the DRDO office. The construction was not stopped despite various complains, not only that it will also be the tallest building around if constructed. It poses a great threat as this a high-security zone.

He also added that this also violates the three points of Clause 11 of the Delhi Master Plan 2021. Various political parties also showed their dissent against this move. The Mayor of Delhi Mr. Avatar Singh responded by stating that a letter requesting the clearing of doubts raised has been sent to the Governor. “All at being fault shall be persecuted”, he added.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Stephen Mathew

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