Unscrupulous developers continue to woo buyers to invest in illegal colonies in Ludhiana

Our Correspondent
Ludhiana, May 21

Despite the mechanism put in place to curb the development of illegal colonies and invoking penal provisions of relevant acts against developers of the colonies by GLADA, these are proliferating across the city, with developers going all out to put their catchy advertisements on print, electronic and social media to woo gullible buyers to invest in their unlicensed and illegal colonies.

Though the state government had introduced a policy for the regularisation of illegal colonies in 2013, which was repeatedly extended till January 2020, but the policy failed to serve its desired purpose and when it ultimately lapsed, an estimated 2,000 illegal colonies still existed in the city.

Concerned over the manner in which unscrupulous developers were cheating the public and wooing them to invest in illegal colonies with no promise of even basic amenities, city-based social activist Rachpal Singh Gabria has filed a complaint with the Chief Minister to ramp up regulatory and enforcement action against developers of unlicensed colonies.

He said, “Owners of agricultural land in Jaspal Bangar, Lohara, Giaspura, Dhandra and many other villages in surrounding areas were carving out residential plots, shops and commercial sites without any license or change of land use (CLU).

Properties in such illegal colonies were being aggressively advertised on various media with promises of amenities such as water supply, sewerage and electricity connections, which obviously could not be made available to illegal colonies under the prevalent laws.”

The complaint said the development of such colonies in Jaspal Bangar village and a few more villages were not an exception. “Almost on the entire peripheral areas around the city and also within the city limits, illegal colonies were mushrooming without any fear of the law or action by regulatory bodies (GLADA or MC),” the complaint read.

“Most colonies under development at Jaspal Bangar village fall in the ‘industrial’ (i) zone in the approved master plan of the city,” he added.

Gabria demanded strict action against promoters for violation of the provisions of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995, and called for directions to the competent authority (GLADA and MC) to strengthen their regulatory and enforcement mechanism.

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