GLADA, Ludhiana Municipal Corporation get notice for ‘violating’ regularisation policy provisions

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, November 11

Charged with gross negligence in verification of papers, specifically stamp papers submitted as proof of agreement for sale of plots, ignoring key provisions of the regularisation policy and in many cases conniving with unscrupulous developers of illegal colonies, the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) and the Municipal Corporation (MC) have been served a legal notice by an advocate, Hakam Singh, on behalf of a city-based RTI activist, Kuldeep Singh Khaira.

Pointing out several lapses on the part of the regulatory bodies (GLADA for colonies out of the city limits and MC for those located within city limits), the legal notice states that in case action as per law was not initiated against developers of unlicensed colonies and conniving officials – who were overseeing the work of regularisation of colonies under the provisions of the policy announced by the state government — within 15 days, a Civil Writ Petition would be filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, for redressal of its legitimate grievance in this regard.

Mentioning gross violations of mandatory provisions of the regularisation policy (vide notification no 12/01/2017-5hg2/1130 dated April 20, 2018, and re-introduced with amendments on October 18, 2018) by both GLADA and the MC in active connivance with private colonisers/developers, the notice says that the competent authorities (GLADA and the MC) had failed to take action against the colonies which had not applied for regularisation despite introduction of a policy for the purpose by the state government.

“Further, new illegal colonies were permitted to be developed even after the cut off date (March 18, 2018) and thereby, the competent authorities had committed a criminal offence by violating directions of the High Court in a Civil Writ Petition and also as defined under the aforementioned policy. Also receipts for applications for regularisation of plots were issued without mentioning plot numbers and construction on regularised vacant plots was allowed without leaving space for road widening as required to be left as per mandatory provisions of the policy,” it was stated.

In the legal notice, GLADA and the MC have also been charged with permitting development of new colonies as well as carving of plots after deadline (March 18, 2018) but which were shown to have come up before the cut-off date which was clear from the post-dated stamp papers used for fake agreements.

‘Gross violations’

In the legal notice, GLADA and the Municipal Corporation have also been charged with permitting development of new colonies as well as carving of plots after deadline (March 18, 2018) but which were shown to have come up before the cut-off date which was clear from the post-dated stamp papers used for fake agreements.