Chandigarh Estate Office fast-tracks pending cases post fatal hearing tragedy

Following the death of a senior citizen during a hearing in a building violation case, the UT Estate Office sprang into action and decided 988 cases between November 20 and 30.

Deputy Commissioner-cum-Estate Officer Nishant Kumar Yadav said of the 988 cases, 722 were related to building violations, 196 to misuse, and the remaining 60 to non-payment of premium or ground rent.

“Currently, a total of 4,289 cases remain pending in the Estate Office. We have set a target to dispose of another 2,000 cases by the end of December,” he said.

Earlier, senior citizen Charanjit Singh (78) died after collapsing at the UT Secretariat on November 4 during a hearing for a building violation case. His health deteriorated allegedly after an official scheduled a new date for the case. He was rushed to GMSH-16, where he was declared dead.

Taking serious note of the incident, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria directed all senior officials to expedite hearings of pending cases under their charge. Acting on these instructions, the Estate Office has taken up the challenge of clearing years-old pending cases.

According to officials, several residents have already rectified building violations, following which their notices were withdrawn. Others who complied with norms were regularised after payment of prescribed charges, leading to the closure of long-pending cases.

On the Administrator’s directions, the UT Administration started public grievance hearings to resolve issues in a time-bound manner. Residents can meet the DC directly every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 am to 12 noon.

According to data, 30 per cent of complaints were related to the Estate Office, 20 per cent to the Municipal Corporation, 15 per cent to policing, 10 per cent each to revenue and cooperative societies, and 5 per cent to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), employment, education and traffic.