The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for not making operational the Integrated Freight Corridor (IFC) project, which was initiated at Narela here in 1980.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said the DDA allotted land for the project to various authorities and thereafter “slept over the matter” without ensuring implementation of orders to shift there the trade of chemicals and dangerous explosives.
To help decongest
The purpose of the IFC was to act as a centre for offloading and picking up wholesale goods by road and rail from and to other States to decongest the Capital.
The Bench said it was doubtful whether the DDA has submitted plans and taken approval from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for sewage systems and water supply.
It also observed that no steps had been taken by the DDA on a 2007 letter by the Delhi Fire Service to shift the proposed fire station to another location, resulting in no such facility being available for the IFC at present.
“Can you have a chemical and explosives trading area without setting up a fire station,” the court asked the DDA and the fire department, which too has not taken any step after sending the letter.
The complete lack of action on the part of the DDA is absolutely “appalling”, the Bench remarked, warning that it was desisting from awarding “exemplary costs” for now and giving the DDA one opportunity to get its act together.
“Ensure that the IFC is activated at the earliest,” the Bench said.
The Bench also directed the DDA to sort out all issues related to approvals of the sewage and the water supply systems as well as the setting up of a fire station in the area. Directions were also issued by the Bench to the chemical traders to ensure they construct their units on allotted plots by September 30, 2018, the time limit given by the DDA.
The court also directed the chemical traders to submit safety data sheets, in accordance with the Manufacture, Storage and Importing Hazardous Chemicals (MSIHC) Rules, 1989, to the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), a Central government department.
From city to IFC
The court issued the directives while hearing a plea by non-government organisation Society for Awareness and Development, seeking shifting of wholesale markets from the Walled City to the IFC.