New Delhi, Apr 24 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Tuesday halted all construction in 1,797 unauthorised colonies in the national capital.

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta asked the Centre to set up a Special Task Force for removing encroachments on public land and roads in Delhi.

The bench also refused to vacate its stay on proposed amendments to the city's masterplan. The Development Authority had (DDA) appealed the court to vacate the stay.

"On the one hand you have authorised colonies which follow rules and by-laws. On the other hand you have unauthorised colonies which are not following rules and by-laws... Unauthorised colonies can't be placed in a better position than authorised colonies.

"We direct that construction should stop in unauthorised colonies till they follow by-laws," the bench said

The order came after taking into account the submissions of senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who was assisting the court as amicus curiae, that by-laws do not apply to the illegal colonies and the construction was rampant there.