Three illegal colonies razed by DTCP in Gurugram

GURUGRAM: Three illegal colonies, which came up during the past two months when construction activities were banned by CAQM in NCR due to alarming pollution levels, in Sector 93 and 94 of the city were demolished by the enforcement team of town and country planning department on Friday.

These colonies were developed on 10 acres of land in the residential zone of Sector 93 and in Sector 94, which is an open space zone. The area has been targeted by offenders in the past too, when several unauthorised warehouses were constructed in violation of the norms but later razed by the department.

This time, offenders took advantage of construction ban and poor monitoring, and were able to develop these colonies, constructed room and sold plots to innocent investors and dupe them of their hard-earned money.

District town planner (enforcement) RS Batth said these colonies were served showcause notices and restoration orders but the developers neither furnished satisfactory replies not took corrective measures. On Friday, the department carried out demolition drive in the area and razed illegal construction including 70 structures and 10 boundary walls.

He said the locals including few property dealers tried to obstruct the drive by locking the properties to pretend as if these were occupied and also parking their cars outside the properties. But when the department did not stop the drive, they were forced to vacate after which earthmovers razed the construction in presence of police team.

Another official said these colonies were being developed without any permission from the concerned department in violation of Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act 1975.

He said the violation of Act is a punishable offence with imprisonment up to 3 years, therefore, the department will soon register police complaint against the offenders. We will also write to police to stop the development of unauthorized colony being done by the offenders and other offenders whose name gets associated with the offence, he said.