Delhi Is Not Ready In Terms Of Seismic Structural Stability of Buildings To Resist Earthquakes: Delhi Govt Informs Delhi HC [Read Order]

The information was given to the Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan in a plea seeking implementation of various orders of the court directing the government to usher preparedness to face earthquakes.

The Petitioner claims that he wishes to inform the court about the alleged 'lackadaisical' approach of the State Government and the civic bodies in taking steps in a time bound manner in order to save the people of Delhi from an impending earthquake.

It is also highlighted by the Petitioner that the authorities have not complied with the previous orders of this court which had directed for taking measures to create preparedness for earthquakes.

In yesterday's proceedings, neither the Delhi Government nor any of the municipal corporations could provide a positive answer to the court regarding the implementation of the existing notifications and orders.

Highlighting this issue, the court noted that:

'We are not going into the sufficiency of the provisions made in the said notifications/ action plans at this stage. However, it ought to be kept in mind that drafting of notifications and action plans has to be followed up with their timely implementation/execution. We expect from all the respondents that the notifications/ guidelines/ directions have issued by them should be implemented quickly.'

The court also noted that it expects by the next date of hearing, information will be furnished by all the concerned Respondents regarding at least 25 buildings in respect of which they have commenced implementation of the action plan as pointed out by the Government of NCT of Delhi in their counter affidavit.

'What is in the interest of the public, is the execution of the directions and not the high-sounding words of the notifications', the court said.

It was further highlighted by the court that as of now it is not criticizing the actions of the Respondents. However, if no execution of the directions are shown by the Respondents, they must be ready to face the criticism of the court and the officer(s) concerned must be ready to face action against them.

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