HSVP recovers less than 10% enhancement dues

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 12

The Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), formerly Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), has recovered less than 10 per cent of Rs 3,800-crore enhancement dues from plot holders across the state, though its one-time settlement scheme that offers 40 per cent rebate ends on Saturday.

The Tribune has learnt that about Rs 350 crore has come to the HSVP’s kitty, as several plot holders have boycotted the scheme, alleging that the enhancement dues are “highly inflated” and “erroneous”.

Sources said that in Faridabad district, the HSVP has recovered about Rs 38 crore out of Rs 507-crore dues. In Hisar district, only Rs 8.4 crore has been recovered out of Rs 437 crore. In Fatehabad, less than Rs 2 crore has been deposited against the demand for Rs 130 crore. And in Sirsa, Rs 61 lakh has been recovered out of Rs 15.5 crore.

The situation is even worse in Gurugram, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Jind and Bhiwani districts.

The Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) of the HSVP are up in arms against the state government ever since notices were served on plot holders in 20 districts of the state, asking them to pay enhancement costs on account of additional compensation awarded to farmers by the Supreme Court.

The RWAs say they are not against the actual enhancement costs awarded by the courts, but the HSVP is demanding “inflated” amount by arbitrary calculations.

“In case of HSVP’s Sector 3, Fatehabad, the Supreme Court passed an order in 2013. Residents had already paid enhancement costs awarded by the district courts and the High Court. Even then, the HSVP added imaginary claims against our names dating back to 20 years and charged interest for all these years. Besides, notices of judgment that came in 2013 were issued in 2017. But interest is being claimed though the delay was on HSVP’s part,” alleged Yogesh Mehta, an executive member of the RWA.

He, along with other plot holders, had met the HSVP authorities in Panchkula. “The authorities admitted their mistake, but they did nothing to rectify it,” Mehta alleged.

Yashvir Singh Malik, president, Haryana State HUDA RWAs Confederation, said people were unwilling to pay because the rebate was too meagre in comparison with calculation errors.

The state government had, on July 5, held negotiations with plot holders sitting on a dharna in Panipat and assured them of recalculating the dues after July 14, the last day to seek rebate under the scheme.

J Ganesan, Chief Administration, HSVP, said the minutes of the July 5 meeting had been sent to the state government for approval.

On lukewarm response to the scheme, Ganesan said 15,000 allotees had paid dues and people were queued up in HUDA offices to settle their accounts.