Gurugram: Over 50 shanties cleared from HSVP land in sector 5

GURUGRAM: The enforcement wing of Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) cleared around two acres of commercial land of encroachment in Sector 5 on Friday. The market value of the land is several crores.

The land was acquired by HSVP a long ago, but remained undeveloped. Gradually, people encroached on the land and started commercial activities. According to HSVP officials, they built many illegal structures, including shanties, which they leased out to other people on rent.

In Friday’s demolition drive, the enforcement team razed over 50 shanties, five houses, four nurseries, two shops selling construction material and one car service centre built on the land. A team led by SDO (survey) Yashwant Yadav, junior engineers Lalit Hans, Anand Prakash and Sandeep Lot, along with 100 policemen, cleared the land of encroachers.

According to HSVP officials, the people living in the shanties claimed that they were paying rent of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 every month, along with electricity charges, to stay there. “A few people encroached on the land and carried out commercial activities,” said junior engineer Sandeep Lot, adding that the land cleared will be auctioned to raise funds.

HSVP is reeling under a financial crisis and struggling to manage its finances. The authority is monetising its assets and the focus is on clearing land from encroachers, as HSVP plans to raise funds from the auction of its commercial and residential plots.