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When most of the city’s licenced colonies were being developed in the 1990s, essential facilities including as roads, power supply, water supply, and sewerage were planned with the construction of two and a half levels on each residential plot in mind.
The population has more than doubled in the last three decades, and four levels are permitted on residential floors until February of this year, after which the state administration will deny approval of fourth floors despite citizen objections.
The infrastructure, on the other hand, has not changed. Since 2017, when the Haryana government permitted the construction of stilt plus four stories, more than 20000 floors have been built across the city’s residential complexes.
In the previous five years, around 5000 four-story buildings have been awarded occupancy certificates (OCs) in DLF zones, Sushant Lok 1, Vipul World, and other licenced colonies.
However, civic utilities such as the width of drainage and sewer lines, the capacity of underground water tanks, and electricity distribution networks, among others, have been improved since the colonies’ inception.
Even after chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar promised in 2016 and 2017 that the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) will take over most of these colonies, including DLF sections, little work has been done to improve infrastructure.
Despite this, as soon as the state government authorised the fourth floor policy, hundreds of residential properties across the city were converted into four-story buildings, raising concerns among locals about the infrastructure’s ability to support nearly double the load.
DLF 1, one of the city’s oldest licenced colonies and also one of the most expensive in terms of residential floor costs, is experiencing water supply issues due to pipelines that have not been upgraded since they were first installed.
Residents of Sushant Lok 2 and 3, Ardee City, Malibu Towne, and Mayfield Garden are also dealing with civic difficulties such as damaged roads, overflowing and obstructed sewer lines, and insufficient power supply.
Even before the fourth floor policy was implemented, residents were protesting inadequate infrastructure. According to them, the current infrastructure is insufficient to fulfil the demands of the current population, and the state government’s impending collapse allows for four stories as independent living units.
Under the Haryana Building Code 2016, the state government enhanced the FAR permitting change of land use for residential purposes in 2016. The building code allows for increased FAR on payment of costs granted by the government from time to time.
Source-TOI
