Commercialisation of Gurdwara Road: Ludhiana residents seek vigilance probe

Tribune News Service

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, June 7

The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has come under fire for turning a blind eye to commercialisation of residential zones in Sarabha Nagar. This has led to many hardships for residents, leading to a deterioration in their quality of life.

Residents of Sarabha Nagar’s Block A have called upon CM Bhagwant Mann to order a vigilance probe to determine why the MC is permitting commercial activities on Gurdwara Road and other residential areas.

A resident said during the development of Sarabha Nagar as a Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) scheme, Gurdwara Road was designated as a residential area and thus, conversion of land use should not be permitted on this road. Last year, the MC’s Assistant Town Planner at Zone D had claimed that Gurdwara Road had already been designated as a commercial area in 2006.

Raising doubts over the claim made by the official, a resident said: “If that is indeed the case, we demand that MC authorities present records, including MC house agenda, the resolution that was approved, the advertisements that were published to invite public objections, the no-objection certificate (NOC) obtained from the LIT, and the notification issued by the government regarding Gurdwara Road.”

Harminder Singh, a resident, said MC officials have not been able to provide any documents or orders to explain why the civic body is permitting the construction of commercial complexes on Gurdwara Road.

Dr GS Bajwa, another resident, said the commercialisation of residential areas has caused people immense distress as it has disrupted the peaceful environment in which they had chosen to reside. The residents expressed concerns about the additional strain on water supply, sewerage system and power supply due to the commercialisation. The unauthorised parking of vehicles belonging to visitors of commercial establishments has exacerbated their problems. Traffic congestion and noise pollution are the other problems that been caused.

Ahbaab Singh Grewal, a resident of Sarabha Nagar and spokesperson for AAP, also expressed his opposition to the situation. He pledged to bring up the issue before the Local Bodies Minister to demand a thorough investigation.

Kapil Arora, president, Council of Engineers, said: “When I requested for information regarding Gurdwara Road, MC officials failed to provide any document to me. They informed me that they are in the process of tracing the file related to this road.”

A former Superintending Engineer of LIT had said in September 2022 that the MC had not taken any NOC from the LIT to make any amendment in the scheme to declare Gurdwara Road a commercial area.

Residents said they had met West MLA Gurpreet Gogi and MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal in the past but the issue was not resolved.

MC Joint Commissioner Ankur Mahindroo, who heads the Building Branch, said the residents had given a representation to the civic body and they were looking into the matter.

MC ‘tracing’ file to substantiate claims

While Gurdwara Road was developed as a residential area by the LIT, MC’s Assistant Town Planner at Zone D had claimed that it had already been designated as a commercial area in 2006. When residents demanded that the documents related to the change in status of the road be made available, Council of Engineer’s Kapil Arora was told that MC officials were ‘tracing’ the file related to the road.

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