Panic grips Kansal, Nayagaon residents

Mohali, March 2

Panic gripped the residents of Nayagaon and Kansal villages after the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the demolition of legal as well as unauthorised constructions in the catchment areas of Sukhna lake within three months.

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According to information, hundreds of houses had been built in Nayagaon and part of Kansal, which fell in the catchment area of Sukhna.

In March 2011, the HC had banned the construction activity in the catchment area but still hundreds of houses came up in these villages. As per the High Court order, alternatives sites would be provided to the owners of the buildings in the catchment area with approved building maps besides Rs 25 lakh as compensation.

Residents said they had constructed houses by spending their lifetime earnings and by taking bank loan. They said a major amount of the compensation would go towards loan repayment. Sources said a majority of the houses in these villages, approximately 400, had been constructed by people even after the HC had imposed the ban. The people residing in these houses would be at a total loss as they would not be getting a single penny if their house maps were not approved by the authorities.

The residents demanded that the government should provide them adequate compensation and alternative land so that they could construct houses. — TNS