‘On the spot’ action begins as Gurugram cracks down on residential violations

In a suo motu move to streamline enforcement operations and expedite field surveys, the District Town Planner (Enforcement), Gurugram, has launched an initiative titled “Office-on-the-Spot”. The objective of this initiative is to conduct fast-track, on-site inspections in licensed plotted residential colonies across the city.

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This programme is scheduled to be conducted every weekend, wherein complete staff of the DTP (Enforcement) office will visit one residential colony and carry out comprehensive on-site inspections.

The initiative was launched on June 7, with Sushant Lok-2, Sector-55, Gurugram selected as the first location. The District Town Planner (Executive), along with his enforcement team, conducted a thorough street-wise inspection of the entire colony. Each residential building was assessed individually and violations committed by property owners, particularly on different floors, were noted.

As many as 150 residential buildings were found violating building use norms. These included the unauthorised operation of commercial activities from residential premises, such as offices, showrooms, gyms, clinics, battery shops, grocery stores and department outlets. Show-cause notices were prepared on the spot, dispatch numbers were allotted immediately and notices were physically pasted on the respective properties.

Furthermore, several property owners who had obtained permission under the non-nuisance activity policy were found to be violating its terms. As per this policy, only 25 per cent of the ground floor of a residential building may be used for non-nuisance commercial activities. However, in many cases, the entire ground floor (100 per cent) had been converted for commercial use. Consequently, show-cause notices, with clear directives that if they fail to restore compliance with the 25 per cent usage limit, their permissions will be revoked, and further action will be taken as per the rules of the department, were issued.

This exercise was designed to identify all violations within a single colony in one day, in contrast with the earlier complaint-based system, where isolated inspections were carried out in response to individual grievances. Previously, this approach often led to incomplete enforcement, as several violations remained unreported and unaddressed.

The new approach ensures a comprehensive and time-efficient review of colonies and reduces the routine burden on staff during weekdays, which are otherwise occupied with office work, public interactions and broader district-level enforcement duties. It provides an efficient mechanism to enforce compliance, allowing the staff to complete entire surveys in one go and initiate legal processes without delay.

The initiative marks a shift from fragmented, complaint-based enforcement to a systematic and comprehensive inspection model that is aimed at ensuring greater accountability and adherence to urban development guidelines. Moving forward, the “Office-on-the-Spot” programme will continue every weekend in different licensed plotted colonies across Gurugram, aiming to cover the entire district in a phased manner while reinforcing the principles of planned development and lawful land use.