Residents of Palam Vihar protest outside Huda office

Residents of New Palam Vihar, who will be displaced upon the complete construction of the Dwarka expressway, have accused the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) of delaying in allotment of alternative plots in Sector 110 A. The residents staged a protest outside the civic body’s office in Sector 14 on Monday.

Residents of New Palam Vihar, who will be displaced upon the complete construction of the Dwarka expressway, have accused the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) of delaying in allotment of alternative plots in Sector 110 A. The residents staged a protest outside the civic body’s office in Sector 14 on Monday.

Palam Vihar residents with senior officials at the Huda office in Sector 14 on Monday. (Abhinav Saha/HT Photo)

After listening to the residents, Huda administrator Hardeep Singh sought some time to resolve the issue and said the allotment will be initiated following a meeting with additional chief secretary P Raghvendra Rao.

Councillor Rishiraj Rana along with residents of New Palam Vihar met Hardeep Singh. He said that either the authorities should resolve the issue within a week or face a contempt petition before the Punjab and Haryana high court.

Rana said that on the petition of New Palam Vihar residents, the high court had directed Huda to give alternative plots to project affected families in Sector 110 A. However, a year has passed and there is still no development.

“The prolong delay in allotment has already been a nuisance. Further, the transfer of officers in Huda and estate office has created confusion. Also, high tension wires lie in the allotted areas but no action has been taken on the matter despite repeated requests,” Rana said.

Around 500 houses in New Palam Vihar, Tekchand Nagar and Kherki Daula are in way of the Dwarka Expressway. All the affected families were supposed to be rehabilitated by allotting alternative plots in Sector 110A and 37C following a high court direction.

The expressway was sanctioned in 2007 and was expected to be completed before 2010 CWG games, but in 2008, a number of writ petitions filed by New Palam Vihar residents challenged the acquisition of land. Consequently, a 1.3km stretch of the road could not be constructed. On the direction of the high court, Huda had agreed to allot alternative plots to all those affected by the expressway.

The expressway has been planned to decongest traffic in Gurgaon by allowing traffic from Jaipur to bypass Gurgaon expressway and head straight towards Dwarka and IGI Airport. Once completed, the Dwarka Expressway will be the third link road connecting Delhi and Gurgaon after NH-8 and Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road.