HC seeks Delhi govt reply on PIL to remove BRT corridor debris

\ New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) Delhi High Court today sought\Delhi government\\’s response on a plea seeking direction to\remove all metal structures, dismantled from the BRT corridor\here, and allegedly blocking the footpath on the stretch.\ A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita\Dhingra Sehgal also issued notice to the office of Lieutenant\Governor (LG) on the plea seeking a direction to the\authorities to grant requisite approval for construction of\six half sub-merged subways along 5.8 km stretch between\Moolchand and Ambedkar Nagar in South Delhi.\ The bench has asked the AAP government and the office of\the LG to file their responses by January 16, the next date of\hearing.\ The PIL, filed by NGO Fights for Human Rights, has\alleged that metal structure of the dismantled BRT corridor\lying there were blocking the footpath, due to which free\movement of pedestrians vehicular traffic was affected.\ \\"Large stretch of the footpath is blocked because of the\metal structure and tiles which were dismantled and have been\stored along the road,\\" the plea claimed, adding \\"as a result,\motor vehicles are not able to move freely and there is acute\blockage of the road\\".\ \\"Motorists and pedestrians are continously facing\imminent danger to their precious lives. There are no boards\to caution public and motorists to travel with care to avoid\accidents,\\" it claimed.\ It alleged that the BRT corridor stretch, which came up\in 2008, was decided to be dismantled because of its\\\"defective design\\" and public works department (PWD) of Delhi\government had begun the work in January this year.\ The plea claimed that the dismantling work \\"was supposed\to be completed by February end\\" and road was to be re-laid.\ It alleged that \\"whole work was planned to be completed\before monsoon but the whole project as planned has not\achieved its purpose\\". \ \\"Respondent number one (Delhi government) planned to\construct six half sub-merged subways along the stretch for\pedestrians. The project is now in the design state and it\will take about two years to complete,\\" the plea said. PTI ABA\HMP PPS\ARC\