The Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) has begun circulating a public advisory across DLF Phases 1 to 5, giving occupants of illegally run paying-guest accommodations, guest houses, hotels, hostels, co-living facilities and commercial offices till June 30 to make alternative arrangements before its sealing drive resumes.
Issued by the Office of the District Town Planner (Enforcement), Gurugram, and now being distributed across DLF Phase 3, the notice follows a roughly week-long pause in the demolition-and-sealing operation that the department announced to give displaced and at-risk tenants breathing room. The advisory urges residents, tenants and paying guests to verify the legal status of the premises they occupy and to coordinate with landlords rather than wait for the date of enforcement action.
It warns that a large number of residential plots have been illegally converted for commercial use in violation of approved zoning regulations, building plans and development control norms, that several premises have already been sealed, and that restoration proceedings are continuing. The department has noted that occupants are often kept in the dark by owners and operators about notices served against the premises, and has cautioned that it will not be responsible for any loss or disruption caused by the sealing of buildings found in violation.
The drive stems from Punjab and Haryana High Court orders directing action against illegal construction and commercial misuse of residential plots across DLF’s colonies. Enforcement has exposed the sheer scale of the commercialisation: single residential plots carved into sprawling PG operations running as many as 100 rooms. One merged complex on Nathupur Road alone yielded 128 illegal PG rooms, and individual days of the drive have seen well over 200 rooms sealed across a handful of properties. Inspectors have also flagged blatant structural violations — stilt-plus-five buildings on plots where only stilt-plus-four is permitted.
The human cost surfaced sharply when the sealing of Amaltas Apartments in S Block left around 40 families homeless overnight, triggering tenant demands for advance notice, a window to vacate and a mechanism to recover deposits and belongings. The week’s pause and the public advisory are the department’s response to that backlash.
District Town Planner (Enforcement) Amit Madholia has maintained that property owners were served notices well in advance and that landlords who kept tenants in the dark while profiting from illegal units are responsible for the resulting hardship. The drive, officials say, will resume in full force once the June 30 window closes.
