Owners of plots in GMADA's sectors 76-80 to pay more

In a decision that will come as jolt to the owners of 4,000 residential plots in Sectors 76-80, Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has imposed an additional price of Rs 750-910/square yard on the plots.

The decision means that a person owning a one-kanal plot in any of the five sectors will now have to pay Rs 4.25 lakh to GMADA, while the owner of a 1,000-square-yard plot (two kanal) will have to pay an additional Rs 9.1 lakh.

The authority will soon issue notices asking owners to pay the money. The decision was taken to recover enhanced compensation money that was paid to farmers whose land had been acquired for developing the sectors.

The Punjab and Haryana high court had ordered the hike in compensation from Rs 10 lakh per acre to Rs 17.85 lakhs per acre in 2008. GMADA had already paid the enhanced payment of Rs 540 crore to farmers. In 2002, allottees were given the plots at a rate between Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,500 per square yard.

Contacted, GMADA estate officer Navjot Kaur said, "It is mentioned in the allotment letters that enhanced money is to be paid by the allottees only."

Mohali Property Consultants Association (MPCA) chairman Shailander Anand said the decision will result in disputes between sellers and buyers. "Nobody will be ready to pay the enhanced amount," he said. "They will say that the deal has already been struck. The slump in the property market has already hit real estate transactions in the city severely."

Punjab Urban Development Authority (now GMADA) floated had acquired 1,264 acres in 2001 and developed Sectors 76, 77, 78 79 and 80. Houses have already been constructed on 2,500 of the 4000 plots.

The farmers of almost 1,100 acquired acres had offered their land holdings after accepting the monetary compensation, the owners of over 100 acres had challenged their land acquisition and rejected the monetary compensation, which they had called "meagre" and went to court.