Gurugram: DTCP razes 10 illegal floors, 12 shops in DLF-3

GURUGRAM: Keeping vigil through a drone and in presence of around 100 policemen, the enforcement wing of the department of town and country (DTCP) razed illegal floors of 10 buildings and 12 shops in DLF-3’s U-Block on Thursday.

According to DTCP officials, this is the first time that such major action has been taken against illegal buildings in a residential block of the upscale licensed colony. Unauthorised construction has been a major concern for many DLF-3 residents for over a decade now.

Other property owners in U-Block have been directed to submit their consent to removal of structures that violated building norms by Friday, or state that they will remove them on their own.

On September 6, TOI had reported that DTCP had identified around 1,000 buildings in three blocks of DLF-3 that allegedly violated plans sanctioned by the authorities. The owners of these buildings, which have been constructed on plots meant for the economically weaker section, were found to have raised extra floors and carried out unauthorised construction after procuring occupation certificates, a DTCP report had said.

Thursday’s drive, which was to start at 10am, was delayed for a couple of hours due to rains. When the demolition squad reached U-Block with a drone and police teams around noon, around 300 locals gathered on the spot and resisted the drive. Policemen had to control the crowd.

District town planner (enforcement) RS Batth, who led the drive, said there have been a lot of complaints regarding multiple violations in many buildings. “We carried out surveys and found that many property owners have illegally constructed floors and extended balconies and staircases in gross violation of the Haryana Building Code, 2017,” he said.

In S, U and V blocks, it was found that the plot owners had used up 100% of their area, constructed six to seven storeys in violation of building plans and combined two or more plots to build commercial structures like offices, shops and eateries, he added.

He said the enforcement team targeted 10 under-construction buildings which were identified during the survey. “A team of 50 labourers demolished the internal walls of the illegal floors, after which they were sealed,” said Batth.

Assistant town planner Ashish Sharma said 12 shops which were illegally constructed on residential plots were also razed during the drive. “The drive will continue in S, U and V blocks. We have got strict instructions from the higher authorities to check illegal construction and initiate action against violators,” he added.

Meanwhile, residents welcomed the move. “We are happy that DTCP is acting against unauthorised construction. But repeated action is needed to check the menace as it is causing huge inconvenience to us,” a resident said.