In a major initiative to check haphazard urban growth in the millennium city, Gurgaon district authorities on Wednesday ordered Revenue department officials to not register properties in illegal colonies with immediate effect.
District Commissioner T L Satya Prakash said the registering authority should personally visit the spot to verify if the properties — residential, institutional or commercial — are situated in duly authorised colonies or not before executing any registration deed.
“It has come to our notice that illegal colonies are mushrooming at an alarming pace. The only way to check haphazard urban growth is to put a rider at the first stage — registration of land deals. This will force people to obtain the requisite licences,” Satya Prakash said.
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The DC said the move will also ensure the delivery of basic civic amenities to residents in approved colonies. He has instructed the Department of Town and Country Planning (Enforcement Wing) to stop mushrooming of illegal colonies.
Narender Solanki, District Town Planner (Enforcement), said, “Persons building illegal colonies make huge profits through sale of residential plots but do not provide the basic civic amenities to the residents. Most of these colonies have been planned on small agricultural or vacant lands — completely violating the prescribed norms. Later, the plot holders are left with no option but to seek civic amenities such as roads, streetlights, water supply and sewerage from the Municipal Corporation or other government agencies.”
Solanki also told Newsline that in Gurgaon and other districts close by, the practice of registering properties by simply notarising it is prevalent.
On Tuesday, the Department of Town and Country Planning demolished pukka structures in Kherki Daula, Gurgaon. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon is also a competent authority to carry out demolition of the structures raised in illegal colonies.
However, last year, under the Special Haryana Management of Civic Amenities and Infrastructure Deficient Municipal Areas (special provisions) Act, 2013, the state government had allowed municipal bodies to provide basic amenities to unauthorised colonies. In Gurgaon, 44 such colonies made the cut, while 29 are still under various stages of approval.
“We are in the process of supply the list of authorised colonies to the tehsildars so that the registration of properties can be done according to the fresh orders,” a source said.
Sources also said property dealers and revenue officials were not keen on introduction of such a mechanism for “obvious reasons”.
Plea against protection granted to unauthorised construction in Delhi
The Delhi High Court issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi government on a PIL challenging the recent law which had extended protection against demolition of unauthorised construction made up till June 2014.
The PIL was filed by NGO Society for Safe Structures through its programme Campaign for People Participation in Development Planning (CPPDP) and former president of the Institute of Town planners H S Suri. It alleges that the government had “miserably failed to control and regulate unplanned construction and to protect the public land”.
Challenging the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2014, the plea states that prior to the latest amendment to National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011, unauthorised constructions only up to February 8, 2007, were protected.
The plea has sought quashing of the Act and the amendment. The PIL also claims that “the day is not far when instead of serving as a model of urban development for other parts of the country, Delhi will wither and collapse under the burden of ill-planned, haphazard growth.”
The bench will hear the matter in May.
