DTCP Razes 12 Palam Vihar Gates After Samadhan Complaints

GURUGRAM: The Department of Town and Country Planning knocked down about 12 unauthorised gates and walls on internal roads in Palam Vihar's C and D blocks, and razed layout violations at Mahindra Aura in Sector 110A, after complaints raised at a samadhan shivir, District Town Planner (Enforcement) Amit Madholia said.

The Palam Vihar drive, in the Palam Vihar police station area, targeted gates and walls built over internal roads of a licensed colony. Madholia said the structures were blocking emergency access and ordinary vehicle movement. Internal roads in licensed colonies, officials said, cannot be taken over or closed by private barriers. Some residents welcomed the clearing of common passages. Others confronted the team. They said the gates had gone up for security and that there had been no prior notice. "These gates were put up for the security and convenience of residents. Now that they have been removed suddenly, we are concerned about our safety," one opponent said. The department went ahead, holding that illegal structures on internal roads could not stay.

The first of the two drives was at Mahindra Aura, a group housing colony in Sector 110A under Bajghera police station. Violations that were not part of the approved layout were identified and demolished, an official said. Both actions, Madholia said, followed alerts received during the samadhan shivir about public land and common areas being closed off.

On Thursday, the same enforcement wing said the crackdown would continue in "strict compliance" with directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Supreme Court. The work, Madholia said, is not aimed at any one person. The priority is to keep space for movement and to stop public infrastructure being taken for private use. "The authorities, under the guidance of deputy commissioner, are ensuring 100% compliance with the directions of Punjab and Haryana high court and Supreme Court," he said. Encroachments on public land, roads, passages and other public spaces, and buildings put up without approval or against sanctioned plans, are on the list.

Stilt parking is under separate watch. Madholia said stilt floors are only for vehicles and cannot be turned into rooms, paying-guest accommodation, guesthouses, shops or other commercial use. Where conversion is proved, the department will seal, demolish or take other action under the rules. Construction without permission, or contrary to approved plans, will face the same process.

The week's two colony drives sit next to a larger licensed-colony campaign that has already drawn homeowners from DLF and Old Gurugram to the Mini Secretariat, and notices to recover Rs 12,500 as demolition cost from more than 200 properties. Palam Vihar's argument is narrower and older: a gate on an internal road is, for one set of residents, a lock against strangers, and for the department, an illegal wall across a fire tender's path. Thursday's briefing made the department's choice plain. The next test is whether stilt rooms and the remaining closed lanes are treated with the same urgency as the 12 gates that came down.