GURGAON: For the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) plot owners, enhancement charges has been a perennial headache, which not only drills a big hole in their pockets but at time can also mean a long-drawn legal battle.

In the past one year, HUDA has sent enhancement notices to plot owners in Sectors 27, 28, 42, 43 and 57. The worse-affected are the house owners in Sector 52, who had received such notices on two previous occasions.

“At the time of allotment, HUDA doesn’t tell anyone about the pending court cases by land owners. The plot owners are never kept in the loop till the case is finally in court,” said S K Gupta, a Sector 52 resident.

Payment of the enhancement has nothing to do with better civic amenities in anyway, he added.

The house owners have paid enhancement charges twice in the past, yet the condition of the sectors continues to be abysmal. “Ideally, HUDA must not offer plots where land owners have dragged them to court over the issue of compensation in lieu of land. At the end, it is the house owner who suffers,” said another resident.

HUDA officials claimed that enhancement notices are justified because land owners have to be paid as per the court directions. “At the time of allotment, the plot owners are informed that the enhancement will have to be paid after court orders higher compensation to land owners. HUDA is not at fault,” said a senior HUDA official.

There are dozens of cases between HUDA and land owners where the compensations are been contested in courts.

The plot owners in many sectors have formed RWAs to fight out court battle in high court. “We have no option but to become party in the cases. The grounds for higher compensations are unjustified for the residents. In court, we are planning to present our case,” said a resident of Sector 28. In the court, residents want to press for HUDA to share the equal burden of the enhancement.

“After a sector is fully developed, with people living in it, HUDA gets money due to development taking place. The credit for this goes to the plot owners. Therefore, they shouldn’t be overburdened,” said Kirpal Singh, a resident of Sector 52.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Plot-owners-are-a-worried-lot/articleshow/22905522.cms