Over 80% people favour ‘stilt plus four’ with some changes

Tribune News Service

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, April 16

Over 80 per cent people have sought implementation of ‘stilt plus four floors’ plan in the state, especially in Gurugram, though with some changes.

According to responses made to the Department of Town and Country Planning’s (DTCP) call for objections and suggestions to currently stalled development of these builder floors, around 16,000 people from Gurugram have sought resumption of the plan by suggesting a review of infrastructure, making broad roads and restriction in some areas where a majority of the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) are against it.

Affordable housing need of hour

Gurugram is in dire need of an affordable housing model. The city has limited land resources and property prices are skyrocketing. The suspension of builder floors has left many in the lurch. We have appealed to the government to revoke it. —Narender Yadav, President, Gurugram Home Developers Association

According to statistics, 16,370 people have supported this housing model while 2,438 have opposed it. Currently, 12,000 Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) plots have the permission to build four-storeyed builder floors and a majority of these are in Gurugram. According to the responses received by the DTCP till April 13, as many as 26,299 people from the state gave their response to the plan. While 21,168 supported the builder floors plan, the rest opposed it. The maximum number of supporters are from Gurugram, followed by Faridabad (2,811). In Panchkula, 426 supported the plan while 408 were against it.

Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) chairman Raghavendra Rao, who is heading the special committee constituted to look into the issue, said the figures were confidential.

“We are still analysing the suggestions and feedback. We cannot reveal anything as of now,” Rao said while speaking to The Tribune.

A committee member, on the condition of anonymity, said while the DTCP was looking into 8,299 suggestions, out of total 6,000 suggestions each had been forwarded for review to the HSVP, HSIIDC and the Department of Urban Local Bodies.

“This was not a poll but a feedback exercise. A majority of the people have supported this form of housing by calling it a need of the hour due to high demand of affordable living options in city like Gurugram but they want everything — right from space to infrastructure to even the neighbour’s consent being taken into account before granting permission,” revealed the committee member.

In February, amid opposition from the RWAs and people moving to courts against it, the Haryana Government had stalled all permissions for the construction of stilt plus four-storeyed buildings in private licensed colonies and sectors developed by Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and urban local bodies. Such structures have come under criticism from residents and the RWAs, which say these put pressure on the existing infrastructure of plotted colonies. The government had then constituted a special committee to look into the issue headed by Raghavendra Rao.

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