PG to-let boards disappear in Chandigarh

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 24

To-let boards offering PG accommodations, which were displayed outside a large number of houses, have suddenly disappeared after the tragic incident reported at a PG in Sector 32 on February 22.

PG operators in the city, a majority of them operating the business illegally, have removed the boards offering PG accommodations, fearing action by the UT Administration.

While many PGs are being run by the owners themselves, a large number of these are being operated by people who take the building or floors on rent. However, after the fire incident at the PG, which claimed three lives, the UT Administration decided to act stringently against illegal PGs in the city, following which the PG operators and owners have got cautious and have removed to-let boards. which were displayed along with the contact numbers. Several houses in Sector 32, that till last Saturday had boards of PG accommodations displayed, were removed after the incident.

In fact, the to-let board displayed outside another PG, which was run by accused Nitesh Bansal and Nitesh Popli, was also removed after the fire incident. A PG operator in Sector 15 said on condition of anonymity that although he had not constructed additional rooms in violation of building bylaws, since his PG was not registered, he had removed the board displayed on the first floor of the house. A majority of the sectors, including 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45 and 46, have a large number of PG accommodations.

Sources said some of the PG owners had also started making structural changes inside the PGs to make these look normal again.