Punjab to sign MoU with PRSC to check illegal constructions

To detect unauthorised constructions and illegal encroachments in the State, Punjab Government is all set to use the remote sensing technique. For the same, the Government would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Ludhiana. 

“Using this technique will not only help in mapping all unlawful constructions and illegal constructions, but the state government would also be benefitted from collecting taxes from the owners of these illegal structures,” said the state’s Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday. 

Sidhu, who was Chief Guest at the three-day national conference being organized on the ‘Role of Geophysical Technologies to bridge the Rural and Urban Divide’ at PRSC in Ludhiana, added that it was because of the absence of any strong mechanisms that such illegal structures have usually gone unnoticed. 

He also sought the support of scientists in his endeavour to make Punjab race ahead of other states in the country. 

Sidhu, during the conference, asked the PRSC officials to send a proposal in regard of the remote sensing technology helping keep a check on illegal construction, following which he said that he would discuss with Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh about signing of the MoU with them. 

“Satellite mapping would help in preventing the illegal colonies, structures, and encroachments, both in the urban as well as rural areas,” Sidhu said, adding that around 8,500 illegal colonies are there in the state at present.