Plot owners in 14K illegal colonies of Punjab can build houses sans NOC

The Punjab Vidhan Sabha today unanimously passed amendments to the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995, which will allow those having plots up to 500 square yards in size in unauthorised colonies to construct houses without having to obtain a no objection certificate (NOC).

This will benefit thousands who own residential plots in the 14,000-odd unauthorised colonies that have mushroomed across Punjab in the past couple of years.

However, only those who have either bought the plots or entered into an agreement to sell on stamp paper, or through power of attorney, before July 31 will be entitled to get the plot registered before a Registrar or Sub Registrar without obtaining any NOC from the development authority concerned. The sale proceedings will have to be completed by November 2, said Renewable Energy Minister Aman Arora.

The amendments have been made to Section 20 and Section 36 of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act.While the amendments do not deal with the regularisation of the plot or the colony, it will allow the plot holders to get basic civic amenities like water and power connection. Under the amended Section 36 of the Act, the minimum punishment for those making these unauthorised colonies has been increased from three to five years, extendable to 10 years and the fine has been increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 25 lakh, extendable to Rs 5 crore.

The Bill was presented by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the charge of the Housing Department. Just after the CM presented the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Bill, the House was adjourned for two hours, apparently to allow the members to read the Bill and then debate on it. Starting the discussion on the Bill, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said the enactment of these amendments would bring a big relief to plot holders as well as help the government rake in moolah with the registration of such plots.

Earlier, Independent MLA Inderbir Singh Rana and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa expressed their reservations about the Bill. Rana wanted to know who would provide the external infrastructure to the plot holders and how would external development be funded, considering the deplorable fiscal health of the civic bodies. Bajwa supported him and said that money should be taken from colonisers for providing roads, sewerage and water pipelines.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the amendments would help the common man overcome the problem faced in registration of their plots and put a check on development of unauthorised colonies. “The previous governments had regularised the illegal colonies thrice despite the fact that the regularisation policy had a clause that it won’t be repeated,” he said.

Meanwhile, AAP MLA Kulwant Singh, who is a real estate developer, said Punjab had 95 per cent unauthorised colonies, and only 5 per cent were authorised. He added there were no unauthorised colonies in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh.