Covid infra scramble puts scanner on missing clinics at pvt townships

Gurgaon: The last couple of months have seen a scramble to beef up health care infrastructure, primarily Covid care facilities, to support hospitals. And while makeshift facilities have been set up at stadiums and community centres, sites officially earmarked for setting up dispensaries are lying vacant in 90% of the major residential townships in the city, collectively home to a large share of its urban population. In some places, they have turned into garbage dumps.
Sources said there were 28 such sites in 15 licensed colonies. Some have been sold by developers to private healthcare facilities but most others have not been put to any use. Medical centres in colonies could have also served as vaccination centres for people living in the immediate vicinity. In the absence of such spaces, the government has been forced to look at college campuses as vaccination sites.
The Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, makes it mandatory for a developer to construct a dispensary, primary school, club and a community centre on the premises of his township. In case the builder can’t, another agency must be brought in to complete it within the time mentioned in the agreement. Either way, the cost of construction has to be borne by the developer, failing which, the government can take over the land and transfer it to a developer or the local authority for building the facilities.
Quoting rules, officials said developers of plotted colonies who had received licences before 2012 were supposed to build community facilities within four years. The time period could be extended by two years. However, the Act gave developers an opportunity to explain themselves for the delay before the land was taken over by the authorities.
The licensed colonies of DLF Phases 1 to 4, one of the oldest and largest, have around 10 dispensary sites, officials said. A few private hospitals have come up at some of the sites. In Sushant Lok 1, there is only one primary health centre while the other sites have been sold to private groups. In other residential colonies such as Greenwood City, Rosewood City, Palam Vihar, Malibu Towne and Mayfield Garden, there are no dispensaries.
Alka Dalal, a former RWA president and resident of Malibu Towne, said the dispensary site had been lying vacant for several years before it was handed over to a private group. “We have filed several complaints in this regard,” Dalal added.
TN Kaul, a resident of Ardee City, said, “The dispensary site in my township has turned into a garbage dump. It poses a serious threat to residents in this Covid scenario. Despite repeated complaints, the site is yet to be cleared and developed.”
Sushant Lok 1 resident Shiv Shankar Rai said there were three sites — one of them was disputed, another had a PHC while the third had been sold to a private player. In the last notice issued by the office of the district town planner, the developers had been given time till April 2018 to build the community facilities. “If the plot is not utilised for the purpose it was meant for, the land shall vest with the government,” the notice read.
Deputy commissioner Yash Garg said some residents’ groups had approached him regarding the dispensary sites. “We wanted to develop one of the sites, but it wasn’t in good shape. I will hold a meeting on this with the developers and work out a way,” he added. A developer claimed the sites in his township had been handed over to the authorities. “It is for the health department and civic body to set up a dispensary now,” he said.