The Gurgaon divisional commissioner, D Suresh, has ordered the removal of a temporary banquet hall set up illegally in an open ground belonging to Gymkhana Club in Sector 29. Located on a sprawling two-acre open land, the banquet hall was set up by a private tent house owner after securing permission from Haryana Urban Development AAuthority (HUDA)
Members of Gymkhana Club complained about the alleged illegal structure and were pursuing the issue with higher officials of HUDA for the past few months.
The commissioner’s order issued on Friday brought to an end the six-month-long campaign of the Gymkhana Club members against the illegal banquet hall.
HUDA had allowed Billu Tent House to set up the temporary banquet hall. But on Friday, Vivek Kalia, estate officer (EO-2), HUDA, ordered the Gymkhana Club management to start demolishing the structure from Monday. Gurgaon News
"The structure set up on the club ground will be demolished. We have issued directions to the concerned executive engineer in this regard,” Kalia said.
“The move is set to bring relief to the club members. They have been fighting for a long time against the tent house owner, who had opened the club to outsiders and was using the facility for commercial purposes, when the club was exclusively for members. The club members had complained that Huda had allotted the club to Billu Tent House in May 2017 without a tender and allowed the caterer to set up the tent house,” a club member said.
Earlier on October 24, D Suresh had stopped construction of the banquet hall on the Gymkhana Club open ground. The order had come in the wake of complaints filed by the club members that HUDA was using the club premises illegally to make commercial benefits.
Club members had been protesting against HUDA’s decision to lease out land within the premises of the club to Billu Tent House for a mere sum of ₹35 lakh per annum for a period of nine years starting May 2017.
“It was essential to reinstate faith among members that the club was for them only, and not for commercial gain. HUDA had been renting out the club grounds to the tent owner without following due procedures. For leasing the same land for functions, HUDA charges ₹9 lakh from non-members and ₹6.3 lakh from members per booking,” Abhay Jain, a member, said.
