Construction near Army depot, resident booked

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 4

A resident of Vallah has been booked for carrying out construction work near the Army ammunition depot. Any construction within 1,000 sq yard of the depot has been banned by the police commissioner under Section 144 of the CrPC.

Balwinder Kaur of New Preet Nagar near Vallah has been booked under Section 188 of the IPC for disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by the public servant on the complaint of Subedar Ajay Singh, Land Junior Commissioned Officer of the Army ammunition depot.

Such cases are being repeatedly reported. On January 25, the police had booked Rajinder Singh of Guru Teg Bahadur Colony, and Sandeep Kumar of Bihari Basti, railway lines in Kallar village in Vallah.

Residents said that due to the ban orders, they were being harassed.

The ban on construction near the depot was issued in 2004. The problem started when the MC authorities extended the periphery of the city while the Army had already acquired 122-acre of land on the bypass road. The Army had approached the Union Government and the notification for prohibition was issued on November 11, 2004 for safeguarding the vital defence installation.

Residents alleged that the Defence Estate through a circular reduced the no construction zone area around the ammunition depots while categorising it into two categories — 10 and 50 metres. They alleged that the administration and military authorities were not implementing it for the reasons best known to them.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Amrik Singh Powar said he would look into this if the police administration had received any such orders. If we get the requisite instructions, the matter would be discussed with the district administration and action would be taken accordingly.