The Times of India              19.12.2013

44 illegal colonies to get amenities

Gurgaon: With elections round the corner, the Haryana cabinet on Wednesday slashed development charges to be paid by occupants and owners of unauthorized colonies to get civic amenities provided by the municipality.

With this, without authorizing any illegal colony, the government will provide residents with all basic services. On the one hand, this will help the government in wooing lakhs of people living in such colonies, while on the other hand, the government will be able to save itself from being labelled populist.

According to the revised fee structure, those in the unauthorized colonies of Gurgaon will have to pay Rs 150 per square yard as development charge. According to estimates, more than 30% of the city's population lives in as many as 44 illegal colonies spread across 1,217 acres in different parts of the city.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon ( MCG) is gearing up to provide amenities like water, electricity, roads, streetlights and sewage disposal to the residents living in these areas.

However, around 2 lakh people living in 22 colonies within the 900-metre restricted zone around the Air Force ammunition depot, will not benefit from the scheme.

There are a total of 542 illegal colonies in Haryana. Residents of such colonies have time and again held protests demanding civic amenities.

In the same cabinet meeting, the government hiked pension for old, widows and disabled from Rs 750 per month to Rs 1,000 from January 1, while pension for destitutes was increased from Rs 200 per month to Rs 500 per month.

The cabinet has also given the nod for special survey for roadside vendors operating within the jurisdiction of civic bodies.