In election season, illegal constructions mushroom in Ludhiana

With assembly elections round the corner, illegal constructions are on the rise in the city, with political leaders extending support to such violators in the hope of garnering votes.

Many of the illegal structures can be spotted at Chaar Khamba road in Model Town, Model Town Extension near Shastri Nagar railway crossing, Haibowal, Salem Tabri, Kochar market and Pakhowal road among other areas. These either don’t have requisite permits, or are flouting building bylaws.

Many of the buildings don’t even leave proper parking space, thus leading to traffic chaos. Areas such as Malhar Road, Model Town Market, Sarabha Nagar, BRS Nagar main road etc have been witnessing traffic snarls due to illegal constructions.

On many of these illegal constructions, owners are putting up posters of political leaders in a bid to evade municipal corporation (MC) action.

RTI activist Arvind Sharma said numerous complaints have been submitted with the MC, but no action has been taken due to political interference and corruption.

“There is already a lot of chaos in the city due to lack of parking space and congestion on roads, but authorities and politicians don’t pay heed to the problem. Majority of buildings are being constructed without proper parking space. Hoardings of political leaders or candidates of different parties are installed on such buildings to evade action. Strict action should be taken against the owners of such buildings and officials concerned who have failed to take action,” said Sharma.

He added, “Even if MC takes any action, only a small portion of the illegal structure is razed and the owner is allowed to resume construction after some time.”

In many areas, including Model Extension, Sarabha Nagar and BRS Nagar, residents have also been slamming the authorities for allowing commercial activities to take place in residential areas.

Prabhdeep Kaur, a resident of Model Town Extension, Block-AX, said, “A number of shops have come up in our residential area, which is in clear violation of the land-use bylaws. What is the use of setting up town planning schemes (residential areas), if the MC allows commercial activity here after some time.”

Residents have also moved court against the one-time settlement (OTS) policy floated by the state government, in the past, to regularise illegal buildings.

MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said, “Action is being taken against illegal constructions. There is no political pressure on MC. I will further direct the senior town planner to keep tabs on buildings which are being constructed in violation of bylaws. If residents feel that the buildings’ branch officials don’t act against illegal constructions, they can submit the complaint directly to my office.”

Recently, a row had erupted over a report submitted by MC additional commissioner Rishipal Singh wherein it was stated that over 57,000 buildings were illegally constructed in the city between 2016 and 2020. The findings were based on the number of power connections issued by PSPCL and building plans approved by MC in that period. MC officials and a section of councillors, however, stated that the report is biased.