GURUGRAM: The enforcement wing of town and country planning department (DTCP) along with GMDA cleared five-acre land in Saraswati Kunj, which is off Golf Course Road on Thursday, by demolishing eight illegal buildings and 250 newly constructed huts.
On the directions of deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav, town planners of DTCP Manish Yadav and GMDA RS Batth conducted joint operation against illegal construction in the colony, where construction is banned by the high court due to ongoing legal proceedings.
Yadav said eight under-construction houses were razed, of which three were demolished up to the ground level, along with 250 jhuggis, with the help of 50 labourers and earthmovers.
He said notices and restoration orders had been issued to the houses regarding illegal construction. District town planner GMDA RS Batth had also made announcements regarding removal of illegal slums before the demolition drive on Thursday.
Batth said soon fencing will be done on this land by GMDA so that offenders do not encroach the land again.
Set up in 1983, Saraswati Kunj has been under a legal tussle since 2004 after the cooperative group allegedly allotted plots to 9,000 applicants in exchange of money when only 4,000 houses could be accommodated in the colony. On ground, it has allotted 1,500 plots so far. In 2016, govt formed a commission— headed by retired IAS officer SP Sharma — to identify the original owners of the plots. Since then any kind of construction is banned within the colony.
However, houses are still being illegally constructed there without taking permission or getting building plans approved, officials said.
TOI had reported a few days ago that to address the issue of encroachment and illegal buildings in Saraswati Kunj, deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav had held a meeting with the board of administrators to discuss the measures to be adopted to check encroachment in the colony.
It was decided that GMDA and DTCP would assess the area to identify any fresh encroachment, report their findings, take action to remove and demolish the encroachments. The deputy registrar of cooperative societies has been tasked with providing a list of illegal occupants to the concerned department for further action.
District town planner RS Batth had said that they would soon launch a joint action plan and start the demolition drive against these illegal activities. “On the direction of the deputy commissioner, a joint inspection was conducted on Monday to assess the extent of encroachment. It was found that structures are being built by illegal occupants without any approval. Further, encroachments in the form of jhuggis were also found,” Batth had said.
