‘Act against illegal water cooling plants’

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the local municipal bodies to take action against water cooling plants, which are illegally operating in the Capital in violation of the master plan.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar sought response from the three municipalities and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on a plea by an NGO, which has alleged that water cooling plants are operating from notified commercial streets in “flagrant violation” of the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2021.

EDMC pulled up

NGO Society for Holistic Approach and Development has claimed that orders for punitive action against such units by the Municipal Health Officer (MHO) of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and other senior officials have been “disregarded” by its own officials.

The petition has said that “despite the orders having been passed and the water cooling plants in the notified commercial streets being illegal and unauthorised, no action has yet been taken.”

The court directed the EDMC to take action as ordered by its MHO and listed the matter for further hearing on September 19.

It also directed the other two corporations to physically inspect such units in their areas. All three civic bodies have been asked to file status reports on the action taken.