Eight months have passed since and no development has taken place on the site.
Residents of Sector 14 of Gurugram, on Sunday, assembled at the ruins of the sector's community centre in a silent protest against the delay in reconstruction of the demolished centre.
They lashed out at the state government for its failure to fulfill the promise it had made in 2015 of providing a new building for the community centre.
In February 2019, after full four years, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) issued work orders for the construction of the community centre after demolition of the 40-year-old building. Eight months have passed since and no development has taken place on the site.
The residents called MCG's bluff citing the work order, which envisages completion of an five-storey building in 18 months. They said the administration was simply fooling the residents.
Agitated over dilatory tactics of the authorities, the residents said that if any candidate approaches them for their vote they would not only question him/her over the promise but also boycott the contestants found guilty of the inordinate delay.
Kalyan Singh Sharma, a social activist who is pursuing the matter for the last two years by filing RTI queries, questioned the authority on the demolition of the old building when they did not want to start the construction early.
He disclosed that he had written several letters to the concerned authority but lamented that nothing has been done so far. He regretted that there was no place in the sector to serve as a venue for social, religious of cultural events.
Sharma quoted the authorities as saying that they were delaying the construction deliberately with the connivance of the contractor so that they could revise the contract in the name of escalation of prices. Hence they would ensure that the construction is not completed within the stipulated time.
“I have also filed a complaint on CM window for early start of the work and inquiry against the officers responsible for the delay due to which the state exchequer is incurring heavy loss,” Sharma added.
The residents regretted that at the time of elections all political leaders make tall promises but forget everything once the elections are over. Dinesh Aggarwal, former president of the RWA said, “Politicians at the time of elections make promises but do not fulfill them due to which the residents have to suffer.”
The residents informed that in the meanwhile, the construction site has become dumping yard and breeding ground for mosquitoes. H S Nanda, president of the RWA, said, “The place has become a dumping yard for garbage causing environment pollution. There is a temple nearby and every visitor to the temple curses the authorities and the government for the mess.”
Another resident, Hoshiar Singh, wants the project completed without further delay as the work has already been started by the contractor. He said no code of conduct applies to the project.
