No namaaz at disputed site in Ggn's Saraswati Kunj

In order to keep trouble at bay, authorities have decided that no namaaz will be offered at the Saraswati Kunj site for the time being.

Earlier, protests had been carried out by certain fringe outfits, who claimed that encroachment on the prime land on the pretext of religious rituals should be prohibited.

The protestors also demanded that strict action must be taken by the government in other prime areas of the city as well.

Taking cognisance of the alleged encroachments, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) on Friday placed a board at the area stating clearly that it was 'public property'.

The vacant land near Saraswati Kunj is located adjacent the Golf Course Road, that houses some of the most expensive real estate properties in Haryana as well as the country.

Large parts of Saraswati Kunj colony do not have the necessary licences and are, therefore, illegal.

Amid this controversy, the issue of encroachments on prime property has again gained traction.

While several fringe outfits have alleged that this is a ploy to illegally capture the land, members of the minority community have denied the claims.

Claims have also been made that in the past, there have been instances where religious structures have been built to encroach upon prime land.

In the meantime, the issue of mushrooming illegal colonies continues to plague Gurugram.

There are complaints that many people build illegal structures over vacant areas, cutting residential plots and selling it to people.

As the rates of these plots are much lower than the market rates prevailing in Gurugram, these plots also get enough buyers.

The rate of a residential plot in Gurugram ranges upwards of Rs 50,000 per square yard, while illegal plots are sold much cheaply at around Rs 16,000 per square yard.

While there are numerous illegal colonies in the city centre, there has been an increase of such townships in the outskirts of the city as well, where the level of scrutiny is minimal.

The growth of the illegal colonies in the city has caused problems for Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), as it is still unable to meet its target of collecting adequate property taxes.

Highlighting the heavy losses to the public exchequer, MCG officials are now mulling regularisation of such colonies, provided they pay the taxes.

Corrupt practices among public officials were recently highlighted, during a raid by the Chief Minister's flying squad in the office of HUDA.

It was found that certain officials were illegally issuing occupation certificates to builders who were constructing illegal colonies.

In addition to the land mafia, these colonies are also being exploited by the watner tanker mafia, who build illegal bore wells in these areas and then sell the water to residents at exorbitant rates.