Delhi/NCR Following recent cases of building collapse due to digging of basements in adjoining premises, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has made it mandatory to leave a two-metre space from the adjacent building for excavation of basements in residential colonies. Experts and MCD officials, however, say this order will make it impossible for most house owners to develop basements. The Master Plan of Delhi-2021 allows wall-to-wall digging of basements. But MCD officials say people often don’t take necessary precautions to ensure the safety of neighbouring buildings. In his order dated December 26, 2011, MCD’s additional commissioner (engineering), Manish Gupta, has directed all zonal offices to ensure that people leave a two metre space. This provision existed in the MPD-2001, but was revised in MPD-2021 and people were allowed wall-to-wall digging. “As the MPD-2021 is under revision, we have decided to restore the provision relating to construction of basements in residential properties as per MPD 2001. We have taken permission from Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna,’’ said Gupta. Officials in the building department say plot length in many areas is just 15 m, so residents will not be able to do underground construction. Source: The Times of India, New Delhi