Decision on increasing FAR in city will be taken after polls: CM Khattar

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar made this announcement during the Jan Ashirwad Rally in the city on Wednesday, adding that the decision on revising the FAR would be taken after two months.

The decision on demand for increasing the floor area ratio (FAR) for residential plots in the city, which would allow additional construction on these plots, is not likely to be taken in the current term of Haryana government which is ending in October.

BJP working president J P Nadda, Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, party general secretary Anil Jain seen during the Jan Aashirwad Yatra at Sadar Bazar in Gurugram. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar made this announcement during the Jan Ashirwad Rally in the city on Wednesday, adding that the decision on revising the FAR would be taken after two months.

While addressing the crowd in DLF Phase 1, Khattar said, “It will take two months to make a decision on FAR. Those who have already built four floors and plan to do more construction beyond the current FAR have not done the right thing. Until there is a final FAR decision, there should not be any further extension in (residential) infrastructure.”

FAR is the space covered by all the floors in a building divided by the total area of the plot. The demand to increase the FAR from 1.98 to 2.4 was raised by Association of Plot Holders, who want to increase the built-up area. The association members have met the chief minister twice and raised the matter in the last two months.

Advocate Tejinder Sehrawat, an active member of Gurugram Home Owners and Plot Holders Association, which is demanding an increase in FAR said that Delhi has 3.0 FAR while Gurugram’s FAR is that meant for a small town. “There is great demand for independent floors. Increasing FAR would increase density and allow for more housing,” Sehrawat said.

A senior official in the district town and country planning department (DTCP), however, said, “There has to be serious deliberation on increasing FAR in Gurugram. Increasing the FAR will further stress the (civic) resources. FAR can be extended only in certain areas of the city where there is a possibility of construction,” the official said, adding that the CM has been informed of the situation in several meetings.

PROVIDING JOBS

In Sikanderpur, Khattar announced engaging more youth in state government-backed work. While the government is already employing graduates and post-graduates in its different departments under the Saksham Yuva Scheme, Gurugram, according to the data accessed by the HT, has the least number of graduates/post-graduates deployed in different government departments.

Out of 142 applications approved under the scheme this year, 82 post-graduates are deployed in departments including agriculture, food and supplies, DTCP and deputy commissioner’s office. Likewise, 47 graduates are employed in Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, health and rural department.

Since, 2016 when the scheme was launched, the district employment department has received 1,005 applications from post-graduates and 433 from graduates.

In other districts neighbouring Gurugram, the situation is bit different. Data shows that in Mahendergarh, out of 2,872 applications, 2,201 are deployed. In Nuh, 384 out of 397 applicants are deployed, in Palwal 499 out of 517 applicants are engaged in government-backed work and in Rewari 584 out of 604 youths have benefitted from such deployment.

Government officials believe that in Gurugram district because of the presence of private companies, many youth are “not interested” in applying for the scheme. “They are also reluctant to cover long distances to do jobs assigned in government offices in the city or other blocks of the district,” the senior employment official said requesting anonymity.

During the rally from Sohna to Faridabad, the CM also announced that potable water will reach the kitchen of every household in the state.

On Wednesday, CM inaugurated eight projects in the city costing ₹53 crore. He also flagged off four new bus routes by Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited, including the route from Iffco Chowk to NIT Faridabad via MG Road, Pali Zone; Gurugram Bus Stand to Ram Mandir (Palam Vihar); Rajiv Chowk-Medanta-Huda City Centre-Jharsa-Rajiv Chowk, Iffco Chowk to Dundahera.