HSVP anti-encroachment demolition drive underway

Gurugram’s demolition fight is really about roads, parking, and a building model that the city may have outgrown. This week, the immediate news is that HSVP — Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran — moved ahead with an anti-encroachment drive on April 29 after a brief pause tied to court hearings. But the bigger story is that a dispute over “stilt-plus-four” homes has turned into a much wider crackdown on walls, ramps, lawns, guard rooms, and other structures sitting on public right-of-way. (indianexpress.com) ### What is HSVP actually removing? Not just whole buildings. In most of these actions, the target is alleged encroachment on road land and utility space — things like boundary walls pushed outward, paved ramps, landscaped strips, extended(indianexpress.com)se. (indianexpress.com) ### Why did this suddenly become urgent? Because the Punjab and Haryana High Court stepped in on April 2 and froze the state’s July 2, 2024 notification that had allowed stilt-plus-four construction in (indianexpress.com) backbone could handle. (indianexpress.com) ### What does “stilt-plus-four” mean here? Basically, a residential plot gets a stilt parking level at the bottom and four independent floors above it. That model triggered a redevelopment boom in older Gurugram sectors because it made plots more c(indianexpress.com)indianexpress.com) ### So why was the demolition drive paused first? Residents of Sector 31 went to the Supreme Court, arguing that local authorities were stretching the High Court’s order into a blanket demolition campaign. The Supreme Court did not stop th(indianexpress.com)ntinue under the law and listed the matter again for May 4. (indianexpress.com) ### Which areas are affected right now? The active HSVP drive under estate office two covers a long list of sectors — including 27, 43, 31-32A, 24-25A, 30, 39, 45, 28, 42, 51, 58, 49, 50, 38, 46, 40, 41, 52, 47, 55, 56, 52A-53, 54, 29, 32, and 44. Officials said five teams were formed, with duty magistrates and police support, for work scheduled from April 29 to May 8. (hindustantimes.com) ### Is this only about HSVP sectors? No — that’s the catch. HSVP’s drive follows an earlier five-day enforcement push by the town planning department from April 18 to 22 in private colonies, especially around Golf Course Road. That earlier operation razed more than 7,500 structures and reclaimed over 200 km of roads, which shows this is not a one-off neighborhood cleanup. It’s a citywide enforcement phase. (indianexpress.com) ### Why are residents so angry? Because many owners say they were given too little notice and that ordinary frontage features are being treated like illegal occupation. The state, meanwhile, sees those same features as the reason internal roads have effectively shru(indianexpress.com) in one image — private extensions eating public movement space. (indianexpress.com) ### What happens next? The legal issue is still alive. Haryana is preparing to challenge the High Court stay on the S+4 policy, while the court continues hearing the underlying petitions. So the city is now in a strange in-between state — new approvals are frozen, demolitions can continue if they fit existing law, and every action is being watched for overreach. (indianexpress.com) ### Bottom line? This is no longer just a fight over one building format. It is Gurugram finally confronting a development model that packed in more floors than its roads, drains, and parking could absorb. (indianexpress.com)