Haryana: Civic amenities provided by developers under scanner

[webmaster]

Manveer Saini, TNN Jan 22, 2012

CHANDIGARH: Town and country planning department of the state has started auditing records maintained by builders in connection with providing civic amenities and community services in colonies and sectors developed by them in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat and Panchkula.

The department has also written to private and nationalized banks to direct their branches to take utilization letters from builders when they withdraw money from accounts meant to keep 30% of the proceeds from sale of housing units, which are to be used for maintaining civic infrastructure.


Sources said procedure of audit started from January 1. In a meeting of senior town planners (STPs) and district town planners (DTPs) held at Chandigarh, the officials we asked to monitor the audit and submit the status report once every three months.

This development is follow up of Haryana government's move of asking builders to maintain records of their allotments and payment by those who subscribe to their schemes. It took these steps in wake of complaints by unit holders, who rued lack of civic amenities and community services.

Town and country planning department issues licences to colonizers for developing residential, institutional and commercial areas. As per rules a builder or colonizer developing a colony is responsible for providing basic infrastructure and amenities like water and electricity supply in the area.

Builders are supposed to provide infrastructure for water and power supply, which the government provides. As most developers err on this account, allotees are left with no option other than shuttling between estate manager's office and government agencies.

Naveen, a resident of DLF Colony in Gurgaon said, "Though this decision is late, we are happy that the government has finally woken up to the needs of allotees of private developers. We want supervising officials to be honest and to provide a clear picture through this audit."

S K Nayyar, president of Citizens' Welfare Association of Panchkula, termed this as a welcome step. "It is too early to comment on this. But certainly, it will put some sort of check on developers,'' he added.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... s-builders