Private school building in Ardee City an illegal construction: RTI

Private school building in Ardee City an illegal construction: RTI


The building of a private primary school at Ardee City in Sector 52 is an illegal one, an RTI reply has revealed. The management of the school has constructed the building without taking an approval from the district town planning department.

The school built on about one acre belongs to the Ardee management, which now claims to have applied for the approval. The school has been running in the locality for the past several years.

“We have applied for the approval when we came to know about it. However, I cannot say much on the issue. The management officials may give you more details,” said Shefali Verma, director of Ardee Infrastructure Private Ltd, refusing to elaborate on the unapproved construction.

A right to information (RTI) application filed by a local resident has sought the details of the building.

In the RTI reply, it is clearly mentioned that the zoning plan for the school building has not been approved by the district town planning department (DTP).

According to the RTI reply, the office of senior town planning department (STP), Gurgaon did not receive any application regarding the school building of Ardee City for approval.

It seems the various government departments never acted as per the law in the case.

When approached by Hindustan Times, the concerned departments — STP, DTP and DTP (enforcement) – passed the buck over the issue.

“I have no idea whether the school building is approved or not,” said RK Singh, senior town planner.

On the other hand, enforcement head Dilbag Singh said that the issue was related to planning and the concerned official could say whether the building plan was approved or not.

“I will take action, if I am told that the building is not approved. But the status of this building is not clear to me. I am not the competent authority to say anything on the approval,” said enforcement head Dilbag Singh.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Dhananjay Jha , Hindustan Times
Gurgaon, February 22, 2012