Despite notice, encroachment of utilities at Omax Mall not cleared

A group of shop owners had complained to the department in May and they had also moved a local court, which, in August, directed the enforcement officials to inspect the site and initiate action.

A month since the district town planning (DTP) enforcement, Gurugram, served a show-cause notice to the management of Omax Mall for diverting public utility spaces for other uses, encroachments continue to inconvenience visitors.

A group of shop owners had complained to the department in May and they had also moved a local court, which, in August, directed the enforcement officials to inspect the site and initiate action. (Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)

On Monday, the aggrieved shop owners sent a reminder to DTP-enforcement seeking action in this regard. A group of shop owners had complained to the department in May and they had also moved a local court, which, in August, directed the enforcement officials to inspect the site and initiate action.

Vikas Gupta, one of the complainants, said, “The DTP enforcement team had inspected the mall on August 11 to verify our complaints of encroachment. The team found violations on the first floor and served a show-cause notice to the mall management on August 15, seeking compliance within seven days. It has been more than a month now and the encroachments are still there, causing inconveniences to shoppers since public utility spaces, such as stairs, lift area etc, are being used by a few shop owners for their personal use.”

District town planner (enforcement) Ved Prakash Sehrawat said, “We will take action in this regard soon. We are planning a drive against various malls on MG Road and Sohna Road that are diverting use of public utility spaces.”