Chandigarh: Opposition Indian National Lok Dal has accused the state government in Haryana of selling the state to the land mafia operating out of Gurgaon.
The accusation came a day after the Haryana government approved the draft development plan till 2031 for the Gurgaon-Manesar belt.
INLD national president and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala on Thursday strongly condemned the proposed master plan for Gurgaon.
He accused the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government of being "hand in glove with the land mafia" operating out of Gurgaon and "selling the state`s interests to private colonisers and builders in a hurry, in view of its (the government`s) impending exit from power".
The Hooda government had approved the draft plan at a meeting here on Wednesday, in which projects till 2031 were broadly outlined.
In a statement here, Chautala said: "The Gurgaon-Manesar urbanisation plan 2031 demonstrates the narrow and perverted mind of the government."
He pointed out that first there was the master plan for 2021. Since some colonisers and builders had to be allegedly favoured by the Hooda government, that plan was amended and its period extended to 2025.
"But since the government decided to bring in even more colonisers and builders in its favoured list, this amended plan has been revised and issued as master plan 2031. The frequent changes in the plan have obviously been done at the behest of the land mafia with an eye on kickbacks," Chautala said.
Chautala pointed to the scarcity of water and electricity in Gurgaon. He said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had recently banned further exploitation of groundwater there by builders.
"It is obvious that Gurgaon was not only unable to cater to the demand for drinking water but also for construction work. In view of this harsh reality, further planning for a city of 42 lakh population was nothing but an attempt to favour the land mafia, colonisers and builders by blatant misuse of power," Chautala claimed.
IANS
