Gurugram to add number 13 in its list of sectors after decades of court fight

Gurugram did not have a sector number 13, not that the planners were superstitious, just that the land on which the sector was conceived belonged to a group of private individuals who refused to give it up for the development of the city in 1987.

However, soon, the city will fill up the missing numeric in its list of the urban divisions with the Punjab and Haryana high court deciding the matter in the favour of Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran. There are a total of 115 sectors in Gurugram.

After a legal battle spanning decades, the authority got a favourable decision from the Punjab and Haryana high court in October.

On Wednesday, HSVP announced that it has finally acquired a plot of 16 acres on the Old Delhi road, a process that the authority had initiated 36 years ago in 1987.

A senior HSVP official said that Sector 13 was part of the original master plan but it could not be developed as the land was not available earlier. Since the land is likely to be available now, the authority is planning to develop the sector.

The disputed land is located around 2 kilometres from sector 14, HSVP office said, and added that it direct access from the Old Delhi road.

Vikas Dhanda, estate officer, one, HSVP Gurugram said that the 16-acre land was to be acquired by the authority in late eighties under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act,1894. “The acquisition could not be completed as 10 owners of the land had filed four separate petitions, leading to protracted legal battle. However, we finally won the case in Punjab and Haryana high court and the land acquisition officer announced the award of compensation on Wednesday,” Dhanda said.

He added that they will plan a plotted residential colony on the land after taking its possession and designate it as Sector 13. “The only issue in executing this plan is that there is lot of encroachment over this land. First, we will check the status of free land, and then we will decide the future course of action,” he said.

HSVP officials who asked not to be named said that the land owners are being paid compensation at the rate of ₹1.75 lakh per acre and in addition to 100 per cent solatium and interest at 12 per cent for 974 days. “One of the land owners of 10 bighas had filed a special leave petition, but we have announced an award for his land also. For the time, we will not take possession of the plot, but we can now take over the rest of the land,” the HSVP official, who was present during the announcement of award, said.

Originally, the officials said that authority had planned to launch a project called Dream City on this land, which would have been a mixed land use project in the eighties but officials said that with the changing urban landscape, they were planning to launch a new plotted colony which would have been designated as Sector 13.

Under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, a notification has to be issued when the government intends to occupy a land in any locality. Thereafter, a notification is issued under Section 5 of the Act, seeking objections if any. Under Section 6, the notification is issued under which the collector seeks permission from the central or state government for development.