About 298 illegal colonies in 17 years in Gurugram, 14 town planners under scanner

GURUGRAM: The town and country department has started sending show-cause notices to town
planners posted in the city since 2006 for failing to check illegal colonies, which have spread wide and
grown deep roots.
Not just in Gurgaon, illegal colonies have become an administrative nightmare in areas such
as Badshapur, Sohna, Pataudi, Farrukhnagar and Bhondsi. Demolishing them is a costly affair too because
of the resources the government regularly deploys in carrying out drives every month.
Data sourced from the government shows that 298 illegal colonies were carved out in the last 17 years.
During this period, 14 district town planners (DTPs) were posted in Gurgaon.

The action against the town planners followed instructions from TL Satyaprakash, the director-general in
the department.
“A total of 298 illegal colonies came up in the last 17 years or so. After an order from the director-general,
we have started listing down the officials who were in the city when the colonies came up. According to
our records, 14 DTPs (enforcement) were posted in the district during these years,” a senior official from
the department said.
The department will issue all the notices by next week, the official said. Since 2016, a total of seven DTPs
have been promoted to the post of senior and chief town planners.

The areas where these colonies came up are under the jurisdiction of either the urban local bodies
department or the town and country planning department. The Haryana government has now decided to
authorise colonies if they meet certain criteria, such as their location, the total area, number of houses and
the families staying there.
Sources in the department said most of the illegal colonies had failed to meet the criteria, another reason
why the notices were shot.
Two years ago, the district administration and the country planning department had announced that those
who had raised illegal houses would be liable to pay the amount spent on demolition drives under Section
10 (3) of the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Area Act, 1975. If the offenders failed to
deposit the amount within the specified time, they would be asked to pay a fine.
To prevent homebuyers and investors from investing in such illegal colonies and getting cheated, the
department has started installing warning boards at the sites where illegal colonies had come up and were
demolished and also in the areas which the offenders might target.
DTCP officials said they are also keeping a strict vigil to prevent the mushrooming of more such colonies.