MCG to start civic services in DLF 1, 2 and 3 next month

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will start providing some civic amenities to DLF Phases 1, 2, and 3 from next month, ahead of an impending total takeover, officials said on Tuesday

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will start providing some civic amenities to DLF Phases 1, 2, and 3 from next month, ahead of an impending total takeover, officials said on Tuesday. These services would include cleaning of roads and drains, pruning of trees, installing of sewage treatment plant (STP), open-air gyms and compost plants, and laying pavement tiles.

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A decision in this regard was taken in a review meeting between the officials of MCG and DLF last month. The approved proceedings of this meeting were documented on Saturday, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times.

During the meeting, MCG officials decided that the civic body will start with the services for which there are no deficiencies or pending infrastructure, as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the three colonies.

MCG commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh directed the civic body’s engineering wing to prepare estimates for such services, float tenders and start work on the ground.

“We realised that instead of waiting for the handover process to be completed, there are certain civic amenities that the MCG can start providing on an immediate basis, and subsequently, take charge of other amenities, such as roads, drains and streetlights, when the colony is taken over. Directions have been issued to the engineering wing officials to provide such amenities within a short time,” said Singh.

In 2017, the MCG had carried out a civic infrastructure survey of the three colonies to determine the estimated cost of repairs and new infrastructure in the three DLF Phases. The assessment, done as per the building plans for the three colonies approved by the directorate of town and country planning (DTCP) in the 1980s, pegged the cost at ₹192.91 crore in the three colonies. This was revised to ₹35.44 crore after the developer raised issues regarding the estimate.

It is only after the developer, DLF, completes the works — road repairs, water supply, sewerage, parks, open spaces and streetlights — that the colonies be taken over by the MCG.

“We will complete all the civic works mentioned in the DPR at the earliest timeline. In the interim, any additional development works in the three colonies can be carried out by the MCG. We have also requested the DTCP to provide the completion certificate for the three colonies,” said David Amalraj, senior vice president, DLF Limited.

In the meeting, the MCG directed DLF to give them the “shortest possible” deadline by when they can hand over the three colonies. “The speed of work got slowed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and DLF Ltd is committed to completing the balance work at the earliest possible,” a representative of DLF Ltd had stated in the meeting.

In February 2016, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had directed the MCG to take over the three colonies. The approved proceedings of the meeting further mention that a review meeting regarding the takeover of DLF Phases 1, 2 and 3 will be held on February 10.

“Another key decision taken during the meeting was that the MCG’s engineering wing and the ward councillors will together survey the three colonies for civic infrastructure augmentation. Once the survey is over, tenders would be floated for carrying out the work,” said RS Rathee, MCG councillor of Ward 34.

“We have been eagerly waiting for the takeover for the past five years. The fact that the MCG has decided to provide us with some share of civic services is extremely important as we view it as a precursor to the final handing over of the colonies. We now can approach the MCG for such services,” said Dhruv Bansal, spokesperson, Gurgaon Citizens Council.