Political gains, urban pains: Regularisation of 30K illegal colonies sparks fears of haphazard urbanisation

The Punjab government’s piecemeal approach to deal with over 30,000 illegal colonies in the state has only compounded the issue of haphazard urbanisation.

A recent order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to strike down an amendment brought in the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Act, 1995, to allow registration of properties without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the urban development authority — has only added to the woes of hundreds of hapless buyers wanting to have a house of their own.

By adding Sub-section 5 in Section 20 of the Act, the state’s housing department had allowed the registration of properties without the NOC for plots of up to 500 square yards in unauthorised colonies.

The permission was given, provided there was an agreement or a power of attorney or a similar document executed between the parties till July 2024.

This exemption was allowed under a specific time period from December 2024 to August 2025.

Section 20 of the Act bars the authorities from registering the sale deed of any plot in an unauthorised colony without an NOC. However, the state government brought in an amended Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2024, to allow such sale deeds.

By the time the high court orders came in April this year, a large number of plot owners had got their properties registered without the NOCs. Many more were in the process of doing so.

Now, uncertainty hangs over the legality of such registries as the state government’s move to circumvent the law, presumably for its vote-bank politics, has come under the court’s scanner.

Officials say that between December 2024 and March 2025, a majority of such plot holders got their properties registered in and around urban conglomerates in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Kharar and Zirakpur.

There appears to be a strong link between the politics and timings of the moves by successive state governments to extend benefit to illegal colonies.

Various legislations brought in the last 20 years to benefit property owners have done little to put in place a mechanism that not only fixes accountability of the builders but also safeguards the buyers’ interests.

Given the fiscal health of the civic bodies, especially in small towns, there is a huge question mark on providing basic amenities in these colonies.

The government is yet to come up with a roadmap to manage fiscal resources to make these services available to the plot holders. In many areas, such colonies do not even fall in the municipal limits of the civic bodies but under the state housing department.

The real problem lies in the government’s failure to come up with an affordable housing policy to cater to people’s growing needs. As a result, unauthorised colonies have mushroomed in and around urban centres.

As construction is undertaken in such colonies it is the buyer who is left to bear the brunt as most builders wash their hands of all responsibility after taking the money. But the bigger malady—the practice of selling plots in unauthorised colonies—remains unaddressed.