It has been the endeavor of the administration that no encroachments and unauthorized constructions on the government land come up in UT, Chandigarh. Under the provisions of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952 and the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952, notices are issued to the violators and encroachments are removed. The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and the Hon'ble High Courts in their various pronouncements have also taken a very serious view over the illegal constructions by the builders/promoters and encroachment upon public-property by the unscrupulous elements.
As per the survey conducted by the Administration in 2006, there are 396 religious structures in the City, out of which only 92 have been allotted by the Chandigarh Administration. Rest of the structures have come up unauthorizedly on the government land.
Despite several meetings and persuasions by the Administration, the managements of these illegal religious places have not removed their illegal structures. In fact, it seems that the construction of a religious place has become a convenient modus-operandi for many people to illegally encroach government land in the name of religion.
Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Civil Writ Petition No. 318/2002 – Mahesh Prasad Gupta versus R.G. Jharkhand High Court and others has issued directions in respect of encroachments in the name of religion as under:-
"Usurpation of public property in the name of religion and construction of religious places without permission from the Municipal Authorities cannot be permitted. The modus-operandi of grabbing of public land and erecting buildings illegally primarily for the benefit of the perpetuator has to come down with a heavy hand……"
In view of the provisions of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952 and the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952 and verdicts of the Hon'ble Court of the Law, .all unauthorized structures are to be demolished.
The Home Secretary, Chandigarh Administration had recently constituted a core committee comprising of the officers of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh Housing Board, Estate Office and the Engineering Department who have been made responsible for ensuring removal of encroachments/unauthorized constructions under their respective jurisdictions. Field officers have been assigned specific areas and they will be held responsible and stern disciplinary action will be taken against them, if any unauthorized structures/encroachments come up under their areas. It has also been decided to institute criminal proceedings by filing FIR against such persons, who indulge in such unlawful activities. A review meeting was taken by the Home Secretary today, where the progress of removal of encroachments was reviewed.
A survey conducted after the recent Parliamentary Elections have revealed that a number of encroachments have been made by unscrupulous elements/land mafia on the government land. It was felt that during the elections, majority of the enforcement staff was deputed for enforcing Model Code of Conduct and other election related duty, as a result of which there had not been close monitoring over the encroachments/unauthorized constructions. A glaring instance of one of such encroachments came to the notice of the Administration recently, where 26 jhuggies were unauthorisedly constructed in Sector 25, Chandigarh this week. The Administration swang into action and removed all these constructions and booked certain persons for unlawfully occupying government land. Shri Jaswinder Sharma, Junior Engineer, Roads, Division No.1, MC was held responsible for not stopping the construction of unauthorized jhuggies under his beat and, he has been placed under suspension with immediate effect. The Administration has chalked out a plan, under which all the unauthorized structures, which have come up after the bio-metric survey will be demolished in a systematic way.
It has also been noticed that a number of bhawans have also encroached upon the adjoining government land by constructing pucca structures. It has also been decided to carry out a drive to remove all such unauthorized structures. Certain allottees adjoining government and MC parks have also made unauthorized backdoor opening in their courtyard, so as to have unauthorized direct access to the public parks. Such allottees are being issued resumption notices for violating building bye-laws.
Directions have been issued to carry out a comprehensive enforcement drive to remove all such illegal structures in the city. There will be zero tolerance on the part of the Administration regarding encroachments/unauthorized constructions. The Chandigarh Administration appeals to the people of Chandigarh not to raise illegal structures or encroach government land and to cooperate with the Administration, so as to keep the City clean and beautiful.
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By : News Team
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