20,000 sq yd of MC land encroached on

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 23

A piece of land measuring about 20,000 square yard of the Municipal Corporation in the Dairy Complex area, Haibowal, has been encroached upon by many persons. The authorities had no idea that land worth about Rs 20 crore has been illegally occupied by these persons. The authorities woke up from their slumber when a complaint was filed by an RTI activist in this regard.

Now, the civic body is preparing itself to send notices to the encroachers, who have built garage sheds and kutcha houses/shanties in the area. The building branch has sent the file to Commissioner Jaskiran Singh.

The complaint was made by an RTI activist, Rohit Sabharwal. He has stated that in Dairy Complex, Part A and B, Hambran Road, a chunk of land measuring about 20,000 square yard was encroached upon by many persons about three months ago.

The MC had sold the entire plots in the Dairy Complex, Part A and B, to private persons by taking earnest money/token money from them. Later, most buyers had taken possession of their plots by making payment in full. However, many buyers never paid the remaining amount (instalments) but still had possession of their plots. There is another category of encroachers, who have occupied vacant land without making any payments.

As per the terms and conditions of any allotment, if a buyer fails to pay the remaining amount against the price of a property, his ownership rights are cancelled. It means that ownership of such plots still stands with the Municipal Corporation.

As per the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court pronounced in CWP 4886 of 2003 and COCP No. 1299 of 2009, the municipal authorities are liable to remove the encroachments in question.