Gurugram: Property owners carrying out illegal construction may lose OC

GURUGRAM: Property owners carrying out unauthorised construction and alterations in the building plan may soon lose their occupation certificates (OCs). A team from the department of town and country planning (DTCP) will visit properties a month after OCs are issued and inspect them to ascertain whether the owners have followed the building plan.

When an OC is cancelled, water, power and sewage connections are withdrawn from the building. Registration and transfer of the property is also banned in order to restrict its sale and purchase.

The department of town and country planning (DTCP) has announced that buildings in licensed colonies which have been issued OCs will be inspected to ascertain whether the property owners have adhered to the original building plan or carried out unauthorised construction.

For the purpose, the department has constituted five enforcement teams under junior engineers (JEs) and certain areas have been assigned to them.

District town planner (DTP) RS Batth said it has come to his notice that unauthorised construction and alterations are rampant in several properties after grant of OC. He said in order to keep a check on such violations, the JE-led enforcement teams will inspect properties.

“Once the occupation certificates are issued, our teams will visit the sites after 30 to 45 days and verify whether the construction is as per the approved building plan. They will then share the report with me on a monthly basis, and I will take action accordingly. Action taken will include cancellation of OC, sealing or even demolition of the building,” he said.

A senior official from DTCP said property owners are carrying out unauthorised construction even after floor area ratio (FAR) was increased. “The department is facing a tough time in controlling such unauthorised construction, mostly by property owners who were granted OCs recently. They have carried out construction in the front and back areas of their plots and even in stilt parking area, in violation of the norms,” he said.

Last year, DTCP had increased the FAR of plots measuring 300 sq yards to 264%, and 240% for bigger plots. The department recently even allowed construction of a guard room and toilet in the stilt area, which was among the most common violations earlier. The Gurgaon Home Developers and Plot Owners Association, which had initially raised demands seeking increased FAR, had assured the department that it will check unauthorised construction, but it has failed to stop violations.