S+4 row: CWA moves EC to scrap Hry move

Panchkula: The Citizen Welfare Association (CWA) Panchkula on Monday wrote to the Election Commission, Haryana governor and chief electoral officer, Haryana, to intervene immediately and scrap a policy notification on removing the embargo on stilt plus four floor design (S+4) constructions.
The matter is pending in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The Haryana department of town and country planning (DTCP) on Sept 20 said applications for approval for construction of stilt-plus-four floor (S+4) buildings can be submitted under its July 2 guidelines.The decision came after the department retracted an earlier statement submitted to the Punjab and Haryana high court, which had paused the implementation of the policy which had faced strong opposition from Gurgaon Citizens Council (GCC), which filed a petition in the high court, seeking to overturn the new rules. On Friday, senior town planner Hitesh Sharma issued a formal directive lifting the curbs and allowing map approvals to resume as per the July 2 guidelines. During a hearing on Sept 11, the bench of Justices Arun Palli and Vikram Aggarwal made it clear that there was no ban on the policy from the court’s side, leaving the govt free to proceed with its implementation.
The CWA members said the Haryana government issued the orders, through the director, town and country planning department, Haryana, to remove the embargo on the construction of S+4 floors in residential area when the model code of conduct was in force for Haryana assembly elections, scheduled for Oct 5. Being the caretaker government, such notifications issued on Sept 20 by the Haryana government are beyond its powers, they added.
The members of CWA, an apex body of RWAs in Panchkula, unanimously decided to approach the chief election commissioner, State Election Commission, Haryana, and governor to intervene on topmost priority about the violations committed by the director, TCP, Haryana under caretaker government beyond their powers to implement because of vested interests.
Besides writing to the chief election commissioner, a delegation of CWA members along with other sister organizations would also submit a memorandum to the Haryana governor and chief electoral officer, Haryana, if they get time to meet them this week.