GURUGRAM: Around 45% community sites earmarked for
amenities like clubs, crèches, schools and police posts are lying vacant across several licensed colonies and group housing societies in the city even though the six-year deadline set by the state government in 2012 was over in April this year.
Several residents, who bought houses in upscale residential areas like DLF, Sushant Lok and Palam Vihar have been waiting for these facilities to be built for years — in some cases, more than 20 years — even after they had taken up the issue with the realtors concerned many times.
Of the 1,106 sites approved by the state government in the city, only 489 sites have been utilised by realtors to build community amenities. In the city’s societies, builders are yet to construct community facilities in 509 sites while constructions are going on in 108 sites.
According to the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, a developer is liable to build nurseries and primary schools, clubs, health centres, community centres and other community buildings or get them built by any other agency on the
land earmarked within the stipulated time. Either way, the cost of construction should be borne by developers, failing which the government can take over the land for free and, subsequently, may transfer it to a person, institution or a local authority for building the infrastructure facilities.
According to the rules, officials said, developers of plotted colonies, which had received licences before 2012, had to build these community facilities within a period of four years (by 2016), extendable by another two years (by 2018). However, the Act provides that a developer should be given an opportunity to explain himself for the delay, if any, before the land takeover by the authorities. “The developers were served notices and given time to build the community facilities before April 2018. If the plot is not utilised for the purpose it was meant for, the land shall vest with the government,” reads the notice issued by Rajiv Kaushik, the district town planner (headquarters), to developers.
In DLF 1 and 2, the developer have already constructed the club and dispensary buildings and procured occupation certificates so that the land would not be taken back by the government. However, these amenities are not functional so far. Satheesan TK, a resident of DLF 1, alleged that the developer had not made community amenities operational so far. “According to terms and conditions, a developer must build community sites within five years. Even though plot owners have paid the entire internal development charges, facilities like club, dispensary and other facilities are not functional,” he said.
In Sushant Lok 1, there are 57 community sites. Of them, sites earmarked for a primary school, a dispensary and a religious building are still lying vacant. Another Ansal township, Ansal Esencia in Sector 67, has 20 community sites but all of them are lying vacant.Ardee City, which is spread across 200 acres of land with more than 2,800 units and group housing flats, was developed in 2002. It houses around 20,000 people. However, even after 16 years and repeated complaints, residents are still waiting for the community facilities promised in the project plan.
Sunil Yadav, RWA president of Palam vihar, said the builder has failed to set up three community centres in violation of the licence conditions even after so many years. “We are managing with only one against the three as promised earlier,” he added.
A senior DTCP official based in Chandigarh said the state government was yet to take a decision on giving further extension to developers for constructing community buildings.
