Gurgaon: A sprawling paying guest (PG) complex emerged as the focal point of a major enforcement drive in DLF-3 on Thursday as authorities continued a large-scale restoration and sealing operation for the second consecutive day. The complex, packed with 128 rooms on a 1,000-square-yard residential plot, allegedly operated with little regard for fire and safety norms.Officials from the department of town and country planning (enforcement), led by district town planner (enforcement) Amit Madholia, sealed all rooms of the PG in the building located on Nathupur Road after finding extensive commercial use and unauthorised alterations in a structure originally meant for residential purposes.Overall, authorities sealed 262 PG and guesthouse rooms across eight buildings. Multiple offices, restaurants, gyms, salons and commercial establishments operating from residential plots were also locked and sealed.What alarmed officials the most was the sheer density of accommodation being operated inside the Nathupur Road premises. Residents and neighbouring property owners said hundreds of occupants were being housed in the building despite concerns over access, parking and emergency evacuation. Officials pointed out that a building accommodating such a large number of occupants effectively functioned like a hostel or budget hotel but lacked the infrastructure expected from such establishments.According to the enforcement team, the interconnected structures at Nathupur Road-34 and 34A were converted into a commercial complex with a gym in the basement, a restaurant and kitchen operating on the stilt floor, and PG rooms spread across multiple upper floors. With only limited access points and no visible large-scale emergency evacuation arrangements, the building raised serious safety concerns, officials said.The action formed part of a wider crackdown being undertaken in compliance with directions issued by Punjab and Haryana high court in a case concerning unauthorised constructions and commercial activities in residential areas of DLF-3.The second day’s operation began around 11am and witnessed a heavy deployment of police personnel, including women police officers, along with district administration officials. Teams moved through Nathupur Road and S Block, inspecting properties where building plans had allegedly been violated through encroachments, covered stilt parking areas and commercial activities.In one of the first actions of the day, officials used a mini excavator to demolish unauthorised constructions erected inside stilt parking areas of residential buildings. Several partition walls and structures that converted parking spaces into offices and commercial units were removed as part of the restoration exercise.Among the major actions, a 45-room PG facility at Nathupur Road-21 was sealed along with a gym, department store, property dealer office and salon operating from the same premises. Another building on Nathupur Road-31 saw the sealing of fitness centres, commercial offices and 26 PG rooms. At Star Inn Guest House on Nathupur Road-29, officials sealed 20 rooms along with kitchen and dining facilities.Madholia said the campaign would continue in the coming days and that strict action would be taken against illegal constructions, encroachments on stilt parking and unauthorised commercial activities operating from residential plots.“The objective is to restore buildings to their sanctioned plans and ensure compliance with court directions,” he said. For many residents, however, the image that summed up the day’s operation was the sealing of the massive PG block — a building that, despite housing hundreds of people, stood at the centre of questions over planning norms, parking provisions, emergency access and public safety.
