AMC-builder nexus? 1,600 homes, 200 shops in Naroda without BU permission for 10 years

Nearly 1,600 houses and 200 shops in Swaminarayan Park at Naroda in Ahmedabad have been functioning without Building Use (BU) permission for the past decade. Residents allege that officials of the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the scheme’s contractor, Dharmadev Infrastructure, colluded for years, and now shop owners have suddenly been served three-day eviction notices, triggering massive anger.

The builder’s earlier applications under the old GDCR (General Development Control Regulations) rules were repeatedly not accepted by AMC, locals claim. 

The scheme was built in 2011 when the area was under AUDA (Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority). The builder had obtained a construction permission letter from AUDA, completed the project within two years, and sold properties to buyers even without BU permission. Residents have been living here since 2011.

Locals also allege that the original plan had designated certain internal areas as passages, but those were later converted into shops and sold.

The locality was inducted into the AMC limits in 2015. However, questions are now being raised on why deputy estate officers and ward inspectors in the North Zone remained inactive for a decade. Residents say the alleged nexus between the builder and corporation staff has left innocent homebuyers trapped and helpless today.