Nurmahal police station project stuck in red tape

Residents have served a notice on the Chief Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretary, home affairs and justice, and the Principal Secretary of the local government for taking immediate action to complete the construction of the Nurmahal police station building.

Dilbag Singh, a social activist and resident of Bainapur village, has sent the notice. In 2006, the police station was in a private building. The local community took the initiative to donate six kanals and 18 marlas of land from the village for the police station. Additionally, they contributed Rs 25 lakh towards the construction of the building. Despite these efforts, the project has remained incomplete due to bureaucratic delays, primarily the inability to transfer the land title to the police department.

The land has been legally mutated in the name of common owners. However, the police department has yet to finalise the land transfer, hindering the completion of the police station. In 2012, the Nurmahal Nagar Council passed a unanimous resolution to transfer the land to the police department for this purpose. Yet, the resolution was rejected by the Director of Local Government, and no further action was taken by successive state governments under Chief Ministers Parkash Singh Badal, Captain Amarinder Singh, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Charanjit Singh Channi, and Bhagwant Mann.

Residents have made the repeated requests to the government to approve the land transfer and allow the completion of the building, but these calls have gone unanswered.

This situation calls for urgent government intervention to ensure that the steps are taken for the timely completion of the Nurmahal police station, a crucial infrastructure for the local community.

Residents said land transfer should be completed as soon as possible, within three months, otherwise they would file a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against them.