Ludhiana becomes tangled mess as plans fall flat

Ludhiana: The industrial city, where a smooth drive on the road is a rarity, is dealing with unplanned and illegal commercial activities. Planning was never the strong point of Ludhiana but things have come to such a pass now that there is hardly any designated parking space. Commercial establishments are mushrooming without permission at both roads and residential areas, making a peaceful environment a remote possibility for residents.
An activist from Ishar Nagar Kuldeep Khaira said, “Increasing commercial activities need to stop immediately, at least near residential areas. These should be allowed only at designated places. We buy houses in residential areas to live in peace and if we do not get the peace what is the use of investing in a residential area scheme?” He added that despite raising the issue frequently at every level, there was no abatement in construction work.
Dugri resident S K Gupta said, “There are proper markets in scheme areas but still people are allowed to start commercial activities in their houses. There is a need to take action against residents who have neglected the rules.”
According to MC officials, commercial activities are allowed on main roads like Hambran Road, Malhar Road, Tajpur Road, Rahon Road, Ghumar Mandi Road, National Road, Rani Jhansi Road, Gill Road and GT Road etc.
Apart from this, commercial activity is allowed only at designated markets in town planning schemes. The town planning or development scheme is established by the civic body or other development agency by designating areas for commercial usage and residential purpose separately. In scheme areas, residential areas cannot be used for commercial activities.
A few scheme areas are BRS Nagar, Sarabha Nagar, Kitchlu Nagar, Tagore Nagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Model Gram, Prem Nagar, Club Road, Chander Nagar etc. However, in the absence of regular checks, commercial and residential activities have been mixed.
An MC official said, “We take action against new illegal activities and for commercial activities, minimum 40 feet road is required. For showrooms, 60 feet road width is necessary.”
He also said that previous plans to regularise many establishments through one-time settlement did not come to fruition and now, they were only keeping a check on mushrooming of new buildings.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from North constituency Madan Lal Bagga admitted that many issues had cropped up due to illegal commercial activity. He said that even if there was permission, there was hardly any planning about factors such as parking space, which caused traffic jams. He said that recently, local bodies minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar asked building branch officials to act against such illegal activities.