Nonagenarian alleges harassment by BSNL

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 24

In the latest Bollywood movie ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, a constant verbal duel is witnessed between Haveli owner’s husband Amitabh Bachchan and one of the tenants Ayushmann Khurrana. He refuses to pay the rent, citing his poor condition, much to the chagrin of Amitabh.

In a similar real-life story, 92-year-old Dilip Kumar Singh, who is currently staying in Chandigarh, alleged that his tenant — the BSNL — was not removing the tower from his plot and other paraphernalia from his Haveli, situated in his ancestral village Jamarai.

The nonagenarian said he had made repeated requests to the BSNL authorities to remove the tower from his plot, but to no avail. So, he dispatched a communiqué to the Union Government in this regard.

At this ripe age, his only wish is to move back to his village, where his father used to stay. Not only this, even he used to spend his vacations in the Haveli, when he was a child. He said this house, which is called Haveli in the village for its massiveness and heritage glory, is falling apart due to the lack of proper care and maintenance.

He said: “I am unable to run to the court and lawyers and take physical stress of pursuing the legal matters, especially in the times of Covid.”

In his communiqué, he requested the Ministry of Social Justice to direct the BSNL to end this harassment. He said it would save him from the mental and physical stress of filing cases and running around to get the tower removed from his plot amid the pandemic.

He, in his communiqué, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, claimed that the tower was illegally installed on his plot number 217 at Jamarai village in Khadur Sahib tehsil, without his knowledge or agreement, in 2007.

“When I came to know about it, the tower was already built, working and functional,” he said. He said after meeting the BSNL officials, they assured him that it would be removed after three years and they entered into an agreement with him for three years.

So, he said, the agreement with the BSNL was signed on January 23, 2008, whereas, the fixture was installed illegally on the premises in July 2007. A BSNL official, wishing not to be quoted, however, said BSNL was paying Rs2,500 per month as rent to the owner.

Haveli bought by son this year only

• Hemant Kumar Mahay, principal general manager of BSNL, Amritsar Circle, said he got transferred here this year only and after learning about the objection by the proprietor, visited the site, which was remotely located.
• He said the heritage looking building was procured by Capt Kamaldeep Singh Rai (retd), 62, son of Dilip Kumar Singh, this year only. He said they were pressurising the department to remove the paraphernalia from the premises immediately, which was not possible. He said BSNL had installed infrastructure worth Rs50 lakh at the place, which cannot be shifted overnight. Besides, seven towers in the rural border belt were dependent on this massive tower.
• He said even then he formed a committee to negotiate, but neither of them ever met its members.
• Dilip Kumar’s son Capt (retd.) Kamaldeep Singh Rai (62) said he was the eldest among the three siblings. He said his brother was staying overseas, while his sister was residing in Chandigarh. He confirmed that he procured the Haveli from their close relatives in February 2020, which is a heritage structure.