Mayawati’s ‘housing merger’ under scanner

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NEW DELHI (TIP): BSP supremo Mayawati has combined three bungalows into one in the prime location of the Lutyen’s zone of Delhi and the unauthorised construction has come under the scanner of state-builder Central Public Works Department (CPWD). Three Type VIII government bungalows, with four bedrooms each, were allocated in the name of Mayawati, BSP and a trust run by the party, on Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Road, next to Parliament House. These bungalows have since been amalgamated into one in the name of Bahujan Prerna Trust, according to documents available. The amalgamation has been done through an unauthorised construction which has come under the scanner of CPWD. It has reported the matter to the Department of Estates, which allocates the bungalows, as well as the Urban Development Ministry under which the Estates Department functions, sources said. Besides the three bungalows, the BSP supremo has a bungalow in her name at 4, Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Road which is separate from these three. According to the documents received through a Right to

Information plea by Subhash Agarwal, the amalgamated single unit has been approved by the Directorate of Estates. “Rules do not allow any modification in bungalows in the Lutyen zone but unauthorised constructions have been found in all three bungalows and it has been reported to the authorities,” said a senior CPWD official. He said all the alterations and modifications were done by the allottee (BSP) and not by CPWD. According to the RTI reply, unauthorised construction of rooms, office, toilet, kitchen along with fibre sheet, covering an area of 238 sq m has been added at bungalow no 12. This bungalow is allotted to the Chairman, managing trustee of Bahujan Prerna Trust. Bungalow no 16, which has been allotted to the president of BSP, has unauthorised construction. It includes rooms with AC sheets and a toilet, AC steel shed along with three other rooms and a bathroom. In addition, there is a temporary unauthorised construction of tin sheets made of steel and metal. Terming the allotment “illegal”, Agarwal has sought a probe into it. “There should be a proper inquiry into the allotment of bungalows because it is violation of rules of Lutyen bungalow zone,” Agarwal said. To a question on BJP objecting to UPA having allocated three bungalows to BSP for party office and citing it as an example of how the Congress-led government seeks the support of allies, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari recalled that institutional land was alloted to RSS-affiliated organisations in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

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