Civic body stops construction of langar hall on its land

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, june 15

In a significant move, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has stopped the construction of a langar hall at Dera Bhuriwala, opposite Guru Ramdas Hospital, near Gurdwara Shaheedan Sahib, here, on Friday. Estate officials claimed that the whole 350-sq yd land belonged to the MC and the dera had constructed a langar hall and rooms with a view to grab it.

As per information, Dera Bhuriwala, led by Baba Kashmir Singh, used to serve langar on the vacant land. A few months ago, they had constructed a boundary wall and installed the gate. Now, the dera has been constructing the langar hall on the land. The estate officials said they had made the boundary wall with an intention to grab the land.

Today, a team of the Estate wing and Municipal Town Planning wing officials visited the dera and stopped the construction. A board claiming ownership rights of the MC was installed on the main gate of the dera. Earlier, the MC estate wing demolished an under-construction boundary wall of its leased property on the rear side of Gurdwara Shaheedan Sahib. The leaseholder had attempted to take the possession of the property. The leaseholder also tried to sell the property to a religious sect. There are several properties of the MC, which are still unidentified or under the possession of some influential groups or individuals. Recently, the MC has started searching and taking possession of its properties.