Around one week after the drive against illegal paying guests (PGs) in the city, not much progress has been seen in terms of taking action against them, making such drives mere a formality.
Recently, the SAS Nagar police registered some cases against the illegal PG owners but a reality check by HT revealed the drive was a just a formality. When HT asked about the action taken by police against these owners, a senior police official said police were not responsible for shutting them down, but the local administration. Jatinder Singh, owner of a PG at Phase 9, said police had asked him to submit the documents of his tenants, which he submitted a day after the inspection. Surprisingly, he revealed he was not even aware of any case registered against him.
When asked about the further action taken by police after the registration of the FIRs, a police officer said a report had been sent to the deputy commissioner (DC) for further action.
Interestingly, when the same question was asked from DC Tajinder Pal Singh Sidhu, he replied instructions were already given to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to probe the cases. Passing the buck, GMADA estate officer Rajdeep Kaur said it was the prerogative of the administration to initiate action against illegal PGs. However, she did not talk about the action taken by GMADA, adding a policy had already been in process to curb mushrooming of illegal PGs.
{{/usCountry}}Interestingly, when the same question was asked from DC Tajinder Pal Singh Sidhu, he replied instructions were already given to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to probe the cases. Passing the buck, GMADA estate officer Rajdeep Kaur said it was the prerogative of the administration to initiate action against illegal PGs. However, she did not talk about the action taken by GMADA, adding a policy had already been in process to curb mushrooming of illegal PGs.
{{/usCountry}}Superintendent of police (SP) Ashish Kapoor said police had registered the cases that would be presented before the court. The FIRs were registered against some illegal PG owners during an inspection drive on December 14 under section 188 of the CrPC, stating disobedience of the order duly promulgated by the public servant.
OFFICIALS PASSING BUCK
All PGs have been running smoothly even after many days of the drive, raising questions over the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities to curb the issue of mushrooming of illegal PGs. “The administration and police are busy passing the buck but no one seems to be interested in addressing the real issue,”said a local resident.