Gurgaon: Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday ordered a physical inspection of internal roads in the city’s planned residential sectors to verify their actual width and condition after public interest litigation (PIL) was filed, challenging Haryana’s stilt-plus-four (S+4) construction policy. A division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry constituted a three-member panel to conduct spot inspections and submit its report within 10 days. The case will be heard next on Feb 17. The commission will include an additional advocate general (or nominee), the petitioner’s counsel, and secretary of the district legal services authority. It has been directed to carry out inspections on Jan 31 and Feb 1 in selected sectors.
The high court noted that the parties do not agree on the actual width of internal roads in Gurgaon’s sectors. Petitioners submitted photographs and documents claiming internal roads in areas such as DLF-1 are about 12-15 feet wide, which they said falls short of prescribed standards for planned residential colonies. They argued that “road” should mean the motorable carriageway available for vehicular movement, not the entire right of way that includes green verges and service areas. They also said narrow carriageways hinder movement of fire tenders, ambulances and garbage collection vehicles, creating serious safety risks in densely populated neighbourhoods. The road-width issue is central to the wider PIL against the state policy permitting stilt parking with four floors on residential plots. Petitioners alleged the policy led to a sharp rise in builder-floor construction in the city, worsening traffic congestion, enabling illegal commercial activity in residential areas, aggravating parking shortages, and straining drainage, sewerage and other civic infrastructure. They also alleged unauthorised ramps, boundary wall extensions, encroachments and weak enforcement of approved layout plans have steadily reduced usable road space. Vertical densification without matching infrastructure upgrades has altered the character of planned sectors and compromised safety, the petitioners alleged. Developer groups and town planning officials disputed the petitioners’ interpretation. Narendra Yadav, president of Gurgaon Home Developers Association, said approved norms provide for road widths of 9, 10, 12, 18 and 24 metres, while the motorable portion typically ranges from 4 to 9 metres, with the remaining space used for ramps, utilities and green buffers. He said measurements between houses on both sides generally align with the sanctioned right of way. Senior town planner Renuka Singh said service plan estimates for any colony or sector are approved by Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and that road cross-sections are fixed at the planning stage. She added that occupancy and completion certificates are issued only after verifying that infrastructure matches approved plans. Divya Dogra, a senior DTCP official, said the definition of a road includes the entire right of way, not only the metalled surface. “The space between houses on both sides, including ramps and green areas, is part of the corridor,” she said. The high court said it could not rely only on competing submissions and that a site inspection was necessary to establish the facts. The commission’s report is expected to influence the court’s final directions in the stilt-plus-four case and may have broader implications for urban planning enforcement in Gurgaon and NCR.
