Gurugram: Three illegal colonies developed on 7 acres of agricultural land razed

GURUGRAM: The enforcement team of the department of town and country planning (DTCP) on Tuesday demolished three illegal colonies developed on seven acres of prime agricultural land in three Farrukhnagar villages.

During the drive, a road network, boundary walls and one under-construction structure were razed using earthmovers. Locals resisted the drive, alleging that property dealers cheated them by concealing the facts and they lost their hard-earned money.

The department had been getting complaints about illegal colonies being carved out in Khwaspur, Babra and Bakipur villages of Farrukhnagar in violation of Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act.

District town planner (enforcement) RS Batth said as soon as the team reached the site along with two earthmovers, locals resisted the drive. They blocked the way and alleged that no prior information was given to them about the drive, nor were show-cause notices served to the developers. “When the DTCP team told them that the colonies were being developed without permission from the authorities, the locals claimed that they had been cheated and their life-long savings were at stake,” Batth said.

He said police had to disperse the crowd in order to ensure that demolitions were carried out. “Some plots had already been sold and construction was underway at these plots,” the DTP added.

Assistant town planner Ashish Sharma said the colonies were in the initial stage of development. A road network had been developed and plotting was underway. He said the builders were also constructing a property dealer’s office to sell the remaining plots. “A few property dealers provoked the locals against the team, who misbehaved with officials,” he said.

After the drive, the officials warned the plot owners not to start construction activities again, failing which strict action would be taken against them. He said the builders and other persons behind the carving out of these illegal colonies are being identified and an FIR would be registered against them.