Unauthorised construction stopped at Heir village

The Amritsar Development Authority (ADA) halted work on a fresh round of unauthorised construction near Livasa Hospital on the Amritsar–Ajnala National Highway on Thursday. The action was taken by the wing under the District Town Planner (Regulatory) Gursewak Singh Aulakh, following directions of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) chief Administrator Nitesh Kumar Jain.

Officials said the construction at Heir village was being carried out without any approval or change-of-land-use permission from PUDA. Several notices had already been issued and construction was stopped multiple times, but the builder continued work at the site. Owing to repeated violations, orders for demolition were issued by senior authorities, said officials.

Aulakh said the regulatory team had again moved to enforce the demolition order, but the action could not be executed due to the non-availability of the police force. He said the demolition plan had been communicated to the Police Commissionerate. He said repeated reminders were sent to provide adequate police force for maintaining law and order during the operation. However, no police personnel were provided either by the Commissionerate or the Airport police station, resulting in the demolition being deferred once again.

He said complaints regarding this unauthorised commercial structure had also been received at the ADA office. Machinery at the site had been seized earlier, but the builder continued construction in violation of the orders. A demolition drive scheduled last week had also failed because the police force was not made available at that time.

Aulakh said directions were also been issued to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) officials to ensure no electricity connection was granted to the structure and to disconnect any existing connection, if provided.

Appealing to the public, the District Town Planner urged residents to obtain change-of-land-use permission and have their building plan approved by the competent PUDA authorities before beginning any construction.