Gurugram civic body seeks 'shortest possible' infra deadline for DLF-1, 2 and 3

Gurugram civic body seeks ‘shortest possible’ infra deadline for DLF-1, 2 and 3

GURUGRAM: Under pressure to take over DLF-1, 2 and 3 without further delay, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has directed the developer to submit a letter of commitment giving “the shortest possible deadline” for completing pending infrastructure work in the three licensed colonies.

MCG chief Vinay Pratap Singh has also constituted a committee comprising the chief engineer, joint commissioner and ward councillors to inspect the development work being done by DLF, the developer, before takeover. The officials will also examine and analyse the original detailed project report (DPR) and submit a report on augmenting the infrastructure to MCG within 15 days.

Singh will review the status of development work in a meeting scheduled on February 10. Keeping in view the inconvenience faced by residents due to delay in completion of pending infrastructure work, Singh said the civic body may carry out additional development work which are not covered in the DPR for takeover. MCG is likely to carry out cleaning of roads and drains, installation of gym canopies in parks, sewage treatment plants and composting plants, trimming of trees and laying of tiles in common areas.

In February 2019, the state government had ordered the department of town and country planning to transfer the maintenance and upkeep of services, including roads, open spaces, public parks and public health services, of DLF-1, 2 and 3, Palam Vihar, Sushant Lok-l, South City-1 and 2 and Suncity to MCG.

As per the order, DLF-1, 2 and 3 were to be taken over by the civic body after verification of the pending infrastructure work completed by the developer. The three colonies have yet not been taken over as the developer hasn’t completed the pending work yet. This has also hindered the undertaking of development and improvement work in these colonies proposed by the councillors of ward 34 and 35.

Councillor of ward 34 RS Rathee said the development work is being carried out by DLF as per the revised DPR, whereas the consultant had originally prepared the DPR not only for carrying out special repairs of the existing roads, public parks, open spaces, street lighting and public health services, but also for the additional infrastructure required as per the present-day requirement. “The original DPR cost was Rs 192.9 crore, which was later revised by the government to Rs 35.4 crore,” he said. He said a survey of such work, including work in parks and green belts, should be carried out in consultation with the ward councillors concerned for preparation of DPR. “These works should be executed by the civic body even before formal taking over of these colonies,” he said.

Kusum Yadav, councillor of ward 35, said the claims of DLF that 60% of the roads in DLF-3 have been recarpeted are not true. “Hardly 20% of the roads in the colony have been recarpeted till date. Further, there is an acute shortage of water supply in V-Block. An underground tank should be constructed by MCG before summer to meet the water requirement,” she said.

A DLF representative who attended the review meeting held on January 6 had informed the civic body that the speed of work slowed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the developer is committed to complete the work at the earliest possible. She said DTCP had granted partial completion certificates on the basis of completion of internal development work in accordance with the approved service plan estimates.