Panel gives LIT last chance for submission of ATR

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, June 24

Fate of 114 allottees of residential plots – measuring 125 square yards each – in D Block of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Colony, developed by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), hangs in the balance even after four years of final allotment and grant of physical possession, as the 5.5-acre pocket of land remains undeveloped till now.

The affected allottees, many of them retirees and senior citizens, have been knocking all doors, including that of the Chief Minister, Punjab, and have had personal meetings with the top officials of the Local Bodies Department and the senior LIT officials without evoking any positive response from any quarter till now.

They are now pinning their hopes on the intervention of Punjab Human Rights Commission (PHRC) which has given a last opportunity to the LIT Chairman to submit an ‘action taken report’ (ATR) before the next hearing on July 11.

In the course of hearing of the complaint (no. 893/10 of 2019), the PHRC had passed two orders, the first on February 4 and another on March 19, directing the LIT authorities for disposal of the complaint filed by the allottees and submission of the ATR. However, there was no response from the LIT on these directions which made the PHRC grant one ‘last opportunity’ to the Trust to submit the ATR before next hearing on July 11.

“In fact, the allottees of these plots have been fighting a desperate battle to secure allotment since 1982 when applications were invited by the LIT for allotment of residential plots at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. A draw was conducted in 1999 and plots were allotted to us. However, land where these plots were located, was acquired and the allottees were left in the lurch,” says one of the allottees requesting not to be named.

The harassed allottees said after a long and legal fight of 16 years, the Trust allotted alternative plots in 2012 and allotment letters were issued in 2015. But that was not the end of the ordeal since land was under encroachment.

“Now that encroachment has been cleared for more than a year, no development work has been taken in hand. No roads have been constructed or carpeted, water and sewer lines are yet to be laid, no provisions exists for street lights or electricity supply and nothing has been done to develop parks and green belts,” says another allottee.

A long battle

In fact, the allottees of these plots have been fighting a desperate battle to secure allotment since 1982 when applications were invited by the LIT for allotment of residential plots, says an allottee.