Housing societies flout MC norms, install gates

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 13

Flouting the Municipal Corporation (MC) norms, several housing societies in the city have put up iron gates at the entrance of their colonies, causing inconvenience to residents. 

The gates, which have been installed at Dhaliwal Colony near Leela Bhawan and Shri Niwas Colony near Gurudwara Dukhniwaran Sahib, have rusted with time and obstruct traffic flow. Not only this, heaps of garbage have also been gathered alongside them. However, MC officials said the authorities concerned would either remove or act against the installation of any gate that obstructed traffic flow.

In a response to an RTI application filed by a city resident, SP Singh, the MC confirmed that no permission had been sought from it for installing these gates. A resident near Leela Bhawan said, “The iron gates installed at the entrance of colonies have rusted with time and block traffic flow. This is not only causing inconvenience to people, but also allowing miscreants to enter these areas any time. The MC should look into the matter at the earliest.”

A senior official from the building department at the condition of anonymity said residents might have received permissions to install gates from the district administration for security reasons. The official said, “It needs to be checked if people have received permission from district administration to install the gates, else these will be demolished by the MC.”

MC Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira said, “The MC will remove the gates if these are obstructing public path. These will remain if installed due to security reasons.”