Height of corrruption

The entire city of Haridwar, once known for its spacious roads and clean environment, is choking with illegal constructions galore in all the parts of the city. These illegal constructions, in the form of colonies and the commercial complexes, including hotels, have disfigured the city, besides causing traffic problems and acute shortage of space for the melas held here round the year.

One reason for scramble for constructions, against prescribed norms, is the shortage of space in the city which is squeezed in between the BHEL, the Rajaji National Park and the Ganga," says V.S. Dhanik, the secretary of the HDA. The master plan of the city expired in 2001 and the new master plan has not been notified even after 10 years of the expiry of the old plan. As per the old master plan, the entire area from Shiv Murti in Haridwar to the Jatwara Bridge in Jwalapur is residential. However, this whole belt, on both sides of the main road of the city, is flooded with business and commercial complexes, which per existing rules are illegal. Similarly, the old master plan lays down at least 1500 meter of land for the construction of a hotel. Due to non availability of so much space of land, people have constructed hotels on 400 or 500 meters of land.

Such a situation, caused by the skyrocketing prices of land in an around the city during the last two decades, is proving a boon for the builder mafia and the colonizers. The sources say that the colonisers have developed 132 colonies either on the agricultural land or by felling trees of the orchards on the periphery of the city. The sources in the HDA say that 57 colonies have so far been sanctioned and regularized, while 74 colonies are still illegal and the case of one colony for regularization is under consideration. It is also strange that in many unapproved colonies the facilities of electricity, sewage and water supply have been provided by the local MLAs from the development fund given by the state government.

Praveen Jha of Dheerwali, Jwalapur alleges that large scale construction of residential and commercial complexes could not have been possible without the connivance of the administration. Groups of real estate mafia, including financers and politicians, with unholy nexus with the officials, are active in the district to mint money. "The modus operandi is that the officials of the HDA remain a silent spectator when an illegal construction is going on. When the construction is complete, a notice is served on the builder and the case is compounded and settled after charging some penalty," says Adesh Tyagi of Shivlok Colony. A group of real estate developers, has illegally constructed 11 commercial complexes from Bahadrabad to Bhimgoda and is currently engaged in the illegal construction of a four star hotel near the SIDCUL. The illegal construction of a hotel in the residential area near Jamna Talkies by an important office bearer of the City Vyapar Mandal is nearing completion. Nearly half a dozen hotels are under construction, all illegally, at Doodhadhari Tiraha. Hundreds of residential complexes have been turned into lodging houses, without permission, in the Shravan Nath Nagar, which is the heart of the city. Dharmshalas and even ashrams are being illegally converted into hotels and lodging houses. The sources say that the number of illegally constructed hotels has touched the whooping figure of 300 during the last one year alone. Such is the greed of the people, with no one to check them, that even the directives of the court are being openly flouted. As per existing rules and also the direction of the High Court, there can be no construction within 200 meters on the Ganga’s bank.