‘Allowing stilt plus 4 storeys smacks of corruption’

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Panchkula, January 21

Various resident welfare associations (RWAs), under the banner of Haryana State HUDA Sectors Confederation, today protested against the construction of stilt plus four storey houses in the state.

Members of the associations alleged that the Haryana Government’s new policy, which was framed to favour builders, stunk of corruption, as the Haryana Building Code was repeatedly amended and stilt plus four storey houses were allowed to be built, which would lead to a lot of problems in the times to come.

Addressing the gathering, Mohinder Singh Balhara, president of the Sector 28 RWA, said the Code was changed first to allow ground plus three storeys and later stilt plus four floors. He said basic facilities like sewerage, water, drainage, roads, vacant areas, electricity, school, market and dispensary, etc, had not been increased with the increase in population. These facilities would further take a hit with stilt plus four structures.

General VP Malik, former Army chief, said he had written to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on December 12 last year about large-scale floor-wise apartmentalisation in Panchkula, but the CM did not even respond to his letter what to talk about taking action on it. He said he came to Sector 6 of Panchkula from Delhi 19 years ago to lead a quiet life and now he found the same chaos here too. No upgrade of the infrastructure would permanently destroy the character of the city, he said. “People have to be environment conscious. After a ban in Chandigarh, these builders will now start large-scale construction in Panchkula,” said General Malik.

He said Panchkula was a much-admired city for its layout, surroundings and green environment, and added that the FAR changes allowing construction of multi-storeyed flats were not in the interest of the residents. It should be banned permanently, especially on B and C roads, he said.

Bharat Hitashi, chairman, House Owners’ Welfare Association, Sector 10, and Yogindra Kwatra, president, Sector 20 RWA, said the basic facilities like electricity, water, roads, sewerage and parking in sectors developed 30 to 40 years ago would be under immense pressure. They said when these sectors were developed, the population was very less. The basic infrastructure like sewer lines, roads, etc, was built accordingly. The population in those sectors had increased a lot over the years, but the government did not take any concrete steps to upgrade the infrastructure, they added.