The Times of India 06.10.2010
MCG gives commercial tag to 12 stretches
GURGAON: If you cant beat them, join them. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon seems to have taken this idiom seriously. The MCG, instead of checking on illegal commercial activities in the city, has taken the first step to legalise them.
The civic body has identified about 12 roads which will be given the commercial tag so that residents who are already operating shops and other commercial activities from their homes can do so without flouting the rules.
All these roads are in the old part of the city and the proposal will be sent to the state government for its approval.
Whenever a road is given the commercial tag, it is actually acknowledging the fact that commercial activities are already taking place. We have identified some roads so that people who want to carry out commercial activities can get their building plans sanctioned accordingly. The reason why all these 12 roads are in the old part is because the MCG has power to grant commercial tag only for the old town. Places in new town like MG Road are already commercial, said commissioner Rajesh Khullar.
Earlier, the plan was to grant commercial tag to 17 roads, however, five of these had to be de-listed after it was found that they fall in unauthorised colonies.
The district administration had recently sealed a number of guesthouses that were operating illegally in the city. We had taken up this drive to seal guesthouses that did not have the necessary licenses, in fact we sealed 400 places in just two weeks. They were all violating the terms and conditions. The drive will continue in the days to come and the revenue we have been able to generate by imposing fines on such establishment is around Rs 15 lakh, said a senior official.
