Bruised pavements and hurt sentiments, city's RoW crackdown achieves little else

Gurgaon: A little over a month since JCBs ripped through the veneer of the city's most tony colonies, car-lined boulevards have nearly reclaimed their normalcy. Ramps, kiosks and gardens the bulldozers smashed are slowly being rebuilt, and internal roads are choked as before. What has lingered is debris the JCBs left, still lying in heaps here and there, and bitterness in the minds of many residents, either for not being given an opportunity to be heard or for what they allege was "selective targeting".The enforcement wing of the town and country planning department (DTCP) said it removed more than 7,500 encroachments from 15 colonies during a five-day demolition drive that concluded on April 22. These drives followed Punjab and Haryana high court's stay on the state's Stilt+4 floor policy and a subsequent govt order asking agencies to clear right-of-way (RoW) violations to free up road space and clear congestion in the colonies.In reality, the demolition exercise has achieved little. It was high on optics, but not on long-term planning or consistency. Residents across colonies, while not opposing the removal of genuine encroachments, criticised the "random" and "selective" operation that has failed to meaningfully restore public space, asking why ramps or gardens of some houses continue to infringe on roads when they too construe the same right of way violation the JCBs were deployed to clear.A major concern flagged by the high court was the mismatch between the city's existing infrastructure and the additional burden likely to be created by extra floors. Referring to an on-ground inspection conducted by a court-appointed commission in DLF-1 and Sector 28, the court observed that internal roads originally planned with a width of 10 to 12 metres had, in reality, been reduced to a motorable width of merely 3.9 to 4.8 metres. The report attributed this shrinkage to encroachments, inadequate sewage and sanitation infrastructure, overpopulation, indiscriminate paving and unregulated construction activity.In Suncity, several residents have started reconstructing ramps and car shelters that were demolished. Temporary cementing work has replaced some broken ramps, while demolished guard rooms and debris continue to occupy sidewalks and vacant plots. Cars remain parked on both sides of internal roads, narrowing the carriageway.The situation is no better in DLF-1 and DLF-2. At multiple locations, broken staircases, partially demolished ramps and construction debris litter the streets. But ramps have re-emerged in altered forms - flattened with cement rather than rebuilt fully, an attempt to avoid another crackdown while restoring basic access."If the demolition for RoW had to happen, it should have been carried out across the entire colony and the city in a systematic manner to create a visible impact on the ground," said Satish Yadav, a resident of Suncity whose planters were removed during the drive. "Some people have rebuilt their ramps and shelters. Extensions linked to influential people were spared while others faced demolition. There is an MCG park here where a ramp built by the corporation for elderly citizens was razed. I support clearing RoW because it benefits residents, but it should have been done in a planned and transparent manner, one that actually produces results," he said.A doctor and resident of Suncity, requesting anonymity, admitted she rebuilt her ramp after it was demolished. "I have not restored it fully, but I levelled the surface again with cement. It made no sense to randomly target some houses while ignoring widespread encroachment. There are irregularities everywhere in the city and all of them should have been addressed uniformly. I did not rebuild the ramp completely because I fear the authorities may return," the resident said.DLF Phase 1 resident Benu Mohanlal, who has lived in the colony since 1987, said residents were never informed that maintaining green belts would later be classified as encroachment. "In the name of clearing ROW, they demolished guard rooms and removed dhobis and cobblers, who are essential to colony life. These workers are now standing outside in scorching heat without shelter," she said."In DLF-1, they did not touch a single stilt-plus-four ramp, but they removed structures used by guards and workers. What about the RoW blocked by garbage dumping and construction waste across the city?" she added.Nandita Gogoi Madhav, a resident of Arjun Marg who was away when the demolition took place, said no prior notice was served before her property frontage was altered. "My plantation, which was nearly 15 years old, was damaged and my wire fencing was demolished. Green areas were never considered encroachment earlier. Even today, vehicles continue to occupy roads. If authorities are truly serious about RoW, they should also act against commercial activities operating out of residential properties," she said. "We are not against corrective action wherever there is genuine encroachment, but the drive must be uniform and not selective. Some houses were not touched at all," she added.Kusum Sharma, a resident of Suncity, echoed Madhav, pointing to what residents see as contradictions in the drive itself. "Our guard rooms, ramps and car shelters were demolished. In Suncity rowhouses, the external space was officially designated for parking. How can those structures suddenly be treated as illegal?" she said.At South City-1, residents have largely refrained from rebuilding ramps and iron grill fencing around green patches that were razed during the enforcement drive. "DTCP had approved these buildings and issued occupation and completion certificates. In many cases, they had even compounded these structures. So, what were they doing at that time? Once occupancy certificates were issued, they had officially signed off on these constructions. They collected the fees and granted approvals. Where was the scrutiny then?" asked Raj Chopra, outgoing RWA president of South City-1.Chopra added, "The situation now is similar to what you see after Diwali - debris scattered everywhere. Even weeks on, the rubble has not been cleared.""They have just covered a few colonies when such violations exist across the city. This exercise has given us no results," said Ashwani Duggal, a resident of South City-1.