Notices issued to developers of 52 illegal colonies in Fatehgarh Sahib district

Surinder Bhardwaj

Fatehgarh Sahib, April 8

Deputy Commissioner Punamdeep Kaur has directed ADC (Urban Development) to issue notices to the developers of unauthorised colonies in the district asking them to get them regularised. ADC Anuprita Johal has issued notices to the developers of 52 unauthorised colonies, identified in the Municipal Council Sirhind-Fatehgarh Sahib area, whereas the process to identify the illegal colonies in other towns of the district is under process.

It is worth mentioning that owing to the apathy on the part of the officials, a number of unauthorised colonies mushroomed in and around Fatehgarh Sahib district and the residents of these colonies are living in a hell like condition without basis civic amenities like drinking water, sewerage, roads, streetlights. They had been raising the issue to provide basic amenities with the government but of no use. They have high hopes from the AAP government as it will come to their rescue, said the residents. To add to their woes neither the municipal councils nor the developers are providing any facility worth the name moreover the developers have not yet got the colonies regularised and the residents feel cheated as they have spent their entire saving on purchasing the plots and constructing their houses, they said.

While talking to the media, the presidents of various residents welfare associations (RWA) said when they purchased the plots the developers said that these were authorised colonies as they had applied for their regularisation and had deposited the requisite fee in that regard. Interestingly, the Revenue Department has registered the sale deeds for plots and earning revenue worth crores from the plot owners. Moreover, the municipal councils are charging hefty regularisation fee on the pretext that the colony has not been regularised, besides development charges, lay out plan charges for construction of house.

They said, “We have been running from pillar to post to get the basic civic amenities required to live but the council officials express their inability to provide on the pretext that colony is unauthorised.” They asked if the colony was unauthorised then why the council was forcibly getting various type of charges and why not action was taken against the developers when they were developing the illegal colony.

They have urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and higher officials of the Local Body Department and GMADA to come to their rescue and to provide basic civic amenities. They said action should be taken against the developers and the officials who were hand in glove with them.