Having a home of their dreams nothing but a wild goose chase

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, August 12

The housing society Indra Puram, Master Gurbanta Singh Enclave, has turned virtually into a jungle. Wild growth of various types of weeds, almost 4-feet high, abound the society’s premises. Besides, there is no provision of basic amenities at the complex like electricity, roads, street lights and water and sewerage connections.

According to Raman Kumar, president of the Indra Puram (flat owners) welfare and development society, in 2006, the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) had allotted 13.97 acres for the development of the Master Gurbanta Singh Enclave which was launched by then local bodies minister Late Chaudhary Jagjit Singh in the memory of his father late Master Gurbanta Singh and the trust promised two-storeyed apartments equipped with all basic facilities and good quality infrastructure. But, reality is harshly different. The trust has miserably failed to fulfill any of the promises.

There are a total of 888 flats in the area, but none of the owners of flats are living there at present due to lack of facilities. “The JIT at the time of selling flats promised us a separate entrance of 40 ft wide road, but just 11 ft road was given which too is now blocked”, said Kumar, questioning how a person can live in a place that has no approach road.

“We had been tired of complaining to the JIT officials about the complex turning into a jungle and hub of all anti-social activities, but we never received any response from them. Also, many allottees, despite having their own flat, are living somewhere else on rent due to the poor condition of the complex”, he added.

KL Arora, secretary, coordination, of the enclave, alleged that the trust authorities had ditched the flat owners by giving wrong information about the site as the complex even did not have a proper sewerage or electricity system. “Moreover, the JIT officials never stayed trued. They had been fooling residents of Indrapuram for many years now. We had made several requests to them and even approached MP Santokh Chaudhary, demanding quick redress of our grievances, but all in vain”, he said.

“At present, our flats have been illegally taken over by miscreants who entered by breaking the locks. We are not able to do anything as JIT officials are least bothered to entertain our pleas”, alleged Arora, adding that due to lackadaisical attitude of the JIT, the complex has turned into a living hell and the money they invested has no value now.

Meanwhile, when contacted, JIT Chairman, Daljit Ahluwalia, said, “The main issue concerning the residents of the Master Gurbanta Singh Enclave is of approach road, which as per the terms and conditions should be 40 ft wide. I am in contact with the concerned officials and higher authorities, we are working on it and we assure to solve this issue at the earliest”, he said. Asked about the lack of basic facilities at the complex, the JIT chairman said: “All such allegations are false. Almost all the flats are sold out and there are many people living at the complex at present.”

Fact File

In the past, protests have been held by the allottees, demanding basic facilities and an approach road in the area. Also, as many as 68 allottees have filed their cases at the District Consumer Forum against JIT, demanding a refund of the amount paid by them.