In a major development that could provide a boost to the flagging Real Estate sector in Gurgaon, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has vacated its stay on the construction of the Dwarka Expressway (Northern Peripheral Road - NPR), which had been stalled due to a disputed residential block in New Palam Vihar. The property owners had demanded an appropriate rehabilitation and/or compensation plan. The Court disposed of eleven petitions on Wednesday, and the remaining two will be heard on May 27. 700 impacted people, who had opposed the land acquisition order, accepted the government’s rehabilitation package. The Court has set a deadline of January 31, 2016 for the vacation of the houses. A resident who owns a house there said that if the Court had instead asked for the alignment of the road to be changed, it would have been better. “We have been living here for the last so many years and have a registered property. However the Court decision at least has recognised our genuine demands, which the government was not ready to listen to earlier,” he adds. Pawan Kumar, a property dealer, says that projects on this road had been at a standstill because of the dispute. Buyers too had stayed away, as no one was sure when this main road would be completed. In fact the impasse had also impacted the laying down of other civic related infrastructure - such as lanes and drains, power, and water and sewage systems. The property dealers are now fairly buoyant. Builders too are happy, hoping that a faster completion of the road would help unlock thousands of crores that have been invested in a large number of commercial and residential projects in this area. It may be recalled that to build this road the Haryana government had acquired 600 acres, but the property owners had moved the High Court in 2007/08. The process of mapping out who will get which plot will be addressed over the next two to three months; the residents getting/opting for free plots will be given those of equal size to what they are giving up.
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