The land was originally meant to be developed as a primary school by the builder. But when that did not happen, the residents claimed that they had contacted MCG in 2009, which had declared the area to be developed as a park.
The residents of C 2 Block in Sushant Lok I in Gurugram are fuming as the only park in their society was demolished in an “unauthorized manner” on Monday.
The residents complained that early morning a handful of people along with 100-odd policemen and three JCBs entered the park and started breaking down the pavements, walking tracks and swings. They later even broke the gate meant to enter the park and instead erected a wall so that the residents can no longer enter the park.
The residents have also filed an online police complaint about the same issue.
“They just started tearing down everything. Since it was a Monday morning, not many residents were at home. Still, a group of 25-30 residents approached them and asked them to show the order on the basis of which they were taking the action. Instead, the police threatened us and asked to step back else face consequences,” said Rajan Sehgal, general secretary of Lord Krishna Enclave RWA.
The enclave lies in Sushant Lok’s C 2 block and has around 115 houses.
According to the residents, this is the only park in the society. When the colony was set up, the land was meant to be developed as a primary school by the builder. But when that development did not happen, the residents had contacted the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) in 2009 and managed to get an order declaring the school to be developed as a park.
“We have a copy of the order that clearly mentions that this land will now be developed and taken care of as a park. In fact, in the beginning, the MCG had even spent Rs 15-20 lakh in building walking tracks, boundary wall and development of the park. But now the builder is trying to grab the land in the name of developing it as a school, which we are not sure are true intentions here,” said Sehgal.
He further added that they had first come to know that the land was being allotted back to the builder in 2016, after which the RWA had filed a petition with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal had directed MCG to take notice of the case but they didn’t do anything.
“Exasperated by the inordinate delay, we had then filed RTI application in MCG office seeking information for the 2009 order and also asking them to declare ownership of the park. We are yet to receive a reply for that,” added Sehgal.
The residents further claimed that the entire incident that happened on Monday morning was unlawful and against the environment. “This is the only park for so many residents in the area and tearing it down means that someone is taking a part of our lungs. The authorities must take action and help us out here,” concluded Sehgal.
Speaking on the subject, Vivek Kamboj, an environmental activist, said that this has been a common practice in Gurugram in the past where builders will allot a piece of land for school and park and later reassign it for more plots. “There are many such cases and mostly the residents keep quiet as they are scared of these builders. But that should not be the case here. The residents should take this to court and get justice.”
Our repeated attempts to contact RS Bhath, district town planner, Gurugram, went unanswered.
