Punjab cabinet okays policy for regularising colonies, plots

The Punjab cabinet on Monday decided to give another chance of regularisation to all 8,000 identified illegal colonies in the state, with strict provisions. The cutoff date of existence too was set as Monday, March 19, and not the coming April 1. The government plans to mop up at least Rs 500-600 crore as fee and penalty by charging the colonies as well as the plots and houses within them, according to a decision taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

The five-member cabinet sub-committee formed for the policy presented the draft. which will be tabled in the Vidhan Sabha in budget session that begins on Tuesday, as The Punjab Laws (Special Provisions for regularization of unauthorized colony) Bill, 2018.

The policy has provisions to impose maximum composition charges (penalty) of Rs 20 lakh per acre on illegal colonies that came up less than four years ago, besides charges as mandated for colonies. The individual plots or built-up houses will attract a maximum of 36% of the area’s collector rate as development charges besides regularisation charges.

All unauthorised colonies, 4,500 under housing department’s jurisdiction and 3,500 under the local bodies department, have been divided into three categories — more than 10 years old that have to pay 0.5% of collector rate subject of maximum of Rs 3 lakh per acre as penalty; 4-10 years old that have to pay 2% of collector rate, maximum of Rs 10 lakh; and those that come up less than four years ago have to pay 6% with a maximum of Rs 20 lakh per acre.

Also, for development levies, the colonies have been categorised into four categories — where 25% of plots have houses; 25-50%; 50-75%; and more than 75%. The policy has norms for civic features in colonies in the first three categories; for those with more than 75% houses, a committees under the deputy commissioner would work out the modalities.

Further, each built-up house will attract a maximum of 36% of collector rate as development charges. Additional chief secretary Vinni Mahajan said the process will begin after clearance from the assembly, and the regularisation will take at least a year. She said there are 3.8 lakh plots within these colonies, and it remains to be known how many have houses on them.

Briefing about the meeting, finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal said colonies that come up after the cut-off (March 19, 2018) will face stringent norms and even demolition. To implement this stringency, the Vidhan Sabha would also amend The Punjab Apartment and Property Regularisation Act (PAPRA), 1995. “For colonies where promoters are not available, the resident welfare associations will have to get the regularisation done,” he added.

The previous SAD-BJP government earned Rs 777 crore by regularising 936 colonies. Individual plot owners were then asked to get their units in illegal colonies regularised. Around 4.3 lakh plot owners came forward for regularisation and 2.93 lakh cases were cleared. The Congress government plans not to regularise an individual plot in an illegal colony; now a colony and a plot/unit both will have to be regularised.

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