Ludhiana: In the wake of a stand-off between MC and residents of two private colonies over a wall which was demolished on Monday, the civic body maintained in a report submitted to the local bodies department that it acted on the directions of the local MLA. The early morning demolition drive sparked anger among residents of the colonies, who got the wall reconstructed in less than 24 hours. According to the MC, the MLA’s rationale was that demolishing the wall would ease traffic on Rahon road and provide an alternative route connecting it with Tajpur road.
The MC also stated in the report that it was well within its rights to organise the demolition drive in larger public interest. As per the report, MLA, East constituency, Daljit Singh Grewal demanded that the road be opened for public movement. It said that he alleged that developers of colonies had encroached upon the land by constructing the wall.
The report stated that there was private land between the colonies but the land owners gave written consent for road construction work. According to MC records, Bhagya Homes colony has been approved in two parts. The first was approved under the Punjab Apartment and Property Regularisation Act (PAPRA) while the second part was regularised later. The MC said that the wall was part of the second part of the colony. While issuing the regularisation certificate for the colony, the MC said it mentioned that part of the premises would be kept reserved for roads, parks, sewage treatment plants and tubewells. The certificate said that if the developer violated the reserved land, the MC had the right to take action. The civic body maintained that in the present case, the developer had encroached upon the reserved land. The regularisation policy issued by the state government also gives ownership rights to the MC for reserved land.
It was pointed out that even though the developer filed a case in court to stop demolition of the wall, MC was not made a party. Therefore, no directions on whether to remove the wall or not were issued to the MC.
The report said that the other colony, Sunrise Enclave, was also approved and some area had been kept reserved for basic facilities. The MC averred that the colony owner had no right to construct a wall on reserved area and the MC was within its rights to declare the area between the two colonies a public street.
MLA East Daljit Grewal said that he wanted to find a way to resolve traffic snarls in his constituency. He said that construction of a road here would divert traffic from Basti Jodhewal and Tibba Road to Tajpur Road till Chandigarh Road.
On Nov 25, MC teams demolished the gates and boundary walls of two private colonies, sparking a protest and road blockade for at least nine hours. Irate residents said that the move would compromise their safety and demanded an assurance from authorities that the wall and gates would not be removed again.