90 illegal colonies identified in Karnal dist, likely to face action

Parveen Arora

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Karnal, March 30

Even after demolition drives by the District and Town Planning Department (DTP), unauthorised colonies continue to flourish in the district.

As many as 90 unauthorised colonies have been identified by the department which, as per sources, are on the radar of the department.

Of the 90 identified illegal colonies, a maximum of 46, more than 50 per cent of the total, are from the Karnal block, which could prove to be a hurdle in urban development in the coming years, said an official of the department. The periphery of Karnal city has several colonies, which are being developed illegally.

Fourteen colonies have been identified in the Gharaunda block, followed by 11 in Nilokheri, 10 in Indri and nine in the Assandh block, according to data.

An official of the Revenue Department said people fall prey to false promises made by colonisers and invest their hard-earned money in illegal colonies. They have to run from pillar to post to get no-objection certificate (NOC), which is mandatory for the registration of land, but they find it hard to get.

People blame the authorities for not taking action at the time of the initial stage of the development of these colonies.

“We cannot purchase even a small plot in developed colonies or sectors due to the high rates. We get plots in illegal colonies and when we get these constructed, the authorities demolish these, causing loss to a poor person. I want to ask why no action was taken when the road network was developed. If the authorities take action at the initial stage, the hard-earned money of people can be saved,” said Amit Kumar, a local resident.

Gulshan Kumar, another resident, said the government should regularise all illegal colonies so that people don’t have to face demolition drives of the department.

Meanwhile, the authorities claimed to take action against violators and by carrying out demolition drives. “We have sent lists of illegal colonies to all tehsils and sub-tehsils not to get these colonies registered. The list has also been sent to the UHBVN for not issuing power connections in these colonies,” said Gunjan Verma, District Town Planner (DTP) Karnal.

A list has also been forwarded to the civic bodies for removing encroachments in these colonies, she added.

“We have demolished around 100 such colonies in the past and got 181 FIRs registered in the past five years,” DTP Verma maintained.