Former Army chief begins campaign against apartmentalisation in Haryana

The SC on January 10, in a landmark judgment, banned the conversion or bifurcation of a single residential unit into apartments in Chandigarh. The case was heard by a bench of Justices BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna. The order applies to Phase I, that is Sectors 1 to 30, considered a heritage zone.

Fearing that the builders will now move to Panchkula and many of them have already started converting single units into apartments and selling those further, voices from Panchkula raised against the move.

What campaign says

• You are impacted: Allowing construction of four-storey construction in plots of HUDA/HSVP sectors has spelt doom for the residents. There is an attempt to change the character of Panchkula and other cities of Haryana by HSVP (HUDA). They have done a poor job of drafting a policy that allows builders to convert plots into stilt+4 floors, without considering additional 30 per cent pressure on the existing infrastructure.
• Your children’s health is at stake: No adequate consultation with the residents was thought necessary and the department has been successful in creating a negative situation for converting the planned city of Panchkula to an urban slum. Even the plotted houses are being converted to high rise clusters, which are akin to housing societies.
• Who failed you: The senior bureaucracy has failed in its vicarious liability to uphold the resident’s right-to-a-planned and a clean habitat. They have fallen prey to the vested financial interests of the builder lobby. No dissent seems to have been registered by these officials, while the character of the city was being tarnished.
• The ruin has begun: It has been noticed that such structures have not only caused physical damage to the adjacent houses but also affected the available sunlight, free flow of air and increased the ambient temperature in the neighborhood. The problem of additional parking space and pressures on civic amenities will bring this city to its knees by creating shortages of water, electricity, parking, population and other challenges.
• Time to act is now: We urge you to give your valued opinion in this regard, so that it can lead to the reversal of the policy of allowing these multi-storey monsters to come up and ruin our city.