Notice to 229 violators, action against none!

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 16

Since 2015, the Municipal Corporation authorities have issued notices to at least 229 defaulters responsible for non-compoundable violations in the city, where demolition is the only option.

But surprisingly, the Municipal Corporation authorities have not taken any stern action against the buildings with non-compoundable violations. Even if the did, the action got restricted to just sending notices or conducting partial demolitions in a few cases.

Activist Rohit Sabharwal had filed an RTI asking the civic body to provide information as to how many non-compoundable violation notices were issued by the building branch from January 1, 2015, to July 4, 2016.

It took almost a year to get back to the applicant and the MC revealed that during this period, notices were issued to 229 buildings in all four zones of the city.

These notices were served on 85 buildings in Zone A, 79 in Zone B, 32 in Zone C and 33 in Zone D. Except conducting partial demolitions at 4 or 5 places, other buildings with non-compoundable violations stand tall in the city. The information given by the MC reveals that in the past two years, 229 buildings were constructed with non-compoundable violations. This means that all these buildings are illegal. Ironically, the law enforcing agencies i.e. the building branch of the MC in connivance with violators got these buildings constructed.

Sabharwal, after getting the information, has written to the Vigilance Department, Punjab; Chief Minister and Minister for Local Bodies Navjot Singh Sidhu alleging corruption in the building branch department evident from the fact that MC officials have failed to demolish illegal buildings, despite serving notices on all.

Sidhu’s ‘one-time settlement’ may create chaos

In the last few visits to the city, Minister for Local Bodies Navjot Singh Sidhu had indicated that he would propose a “one-time settlement” policy, through which buildings with violations will have to pay certain amount to the Municipal Corporation to get a regularisation certificate. But officials in the building branch feel that if such a thing is implemented, more and more illegal buildings will come up in the city and there would be total chaos.

Give an undertaking and the civic body is ‘OK’ with violations too!

Ludhiana: Residents in Malerkotla House, Civil Lines, are a harried lot. 

Reason: A particular building coming up in the area they say was not any residence, but a community centre which is being constructed in an illegal manner, as the map of the building approved by MC was that of a residence. But the construction is on, while MC authorities seem to be looking the other way.

Himanshu Nayar, one of the residents, said they were opposing the construction because it was a community centre. 

“Tomorrow when the construction will be complete, functions will be held here. The 20-feet road outside the building will remain congested as there is no proper parking space outside. DJ or loud music will be played, disturbing the peaceful atmosphere in the area. We went to MC Commissioner several times and once the construction work was stopped too because we were able to talk about the problem to Minister, Local Bodies Navjot Singh Sidhu in Chandigarh. But after a few days, the construction has started again. We again met the MC Commissioner, but to no avail,” Nayar said.

The residents filed an RTI to know if the Community Centre was allowed here or not. To their surprise, the building map of the “residence” has been approved on August 28, 2016, says the RTI information given by Public Relation Officer Zone D, MC. The same information reveals that the department had no record of change of land use of the particular plot.|

It is learnt that the owners of the building have provided an “undertaking” to the MC authorities claiming that they will not use it as a community centre. But residents want to know how by giving a mere document can violations be overlooked? Secondly, who will be held responsible if such undertakings go missing from the department? And, thirdly if owners start using buildings as community centres and the officials concerned get transferred, who should be contacted in the department? 

“These are questions which bother us, but MC authorities are not concerned,” Nayar said. —TNS