Chandigarh admn puts demolition of furniture market on hold

A delegation of traders had requested for an opportunity to buy shops in the upcoming Bulk Material Market on open auction and till the auction is conducted, offered to pay rent of the area encroached upon by them, as assessed by the Chandigarh administration

Having received multiple pleas from traders, the UT administration has stalled the demolition of the Sector-53 Furniture Market for now.

The Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) had issued notices to the occupants of the market to clear the site cleared by June 28, failing which all shops will be demolished. (HT Photo)

The Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) had issued notices to the occupants of the market to clear the site cleared by June 28, failing which all shops will be demolished.

In response to the notices, a delegation of the Furniture Market Association on June 25 met deputy commissioner (DC) Vinay Pratap Singh. After hearing their grievances, the DC asked them to file their individual replies to the LAO before June 28, failing which demolition would be proceeded with ex parte.

The delegation had requested for an opportunity to buy shops in the upcoming Bulk Material Market on open auction and till the auction is conducted, they offered to pay rent of the area encroached upon by them, as assessed by the administration.

The LAO confirmed that he had received replies from many occupants of the market and these were being examined on merit. Therefore, decision for schedule of demolition will be taken after examination of replies as per rules at appropriate level, he added.

The DC said the demolition will be scheduled immediately after decision on the replies was taken by the competent authority.

He reiterated that the market had been running illegally on government land and the UT administration was duty bound to get the illegal encroachments removed from its lands.

In the June 22 notice served on the shopkeepers, the land acquisition department had said, “The land was actually acquired by the Chandigarh administration in 2002 and is part of village Badheri. Though the shopkeepers had moved the Punjab and Haryana high court for a stay on vacating the land, the court had in September 2023 disposed of all petitions filed by the alleged lessees of the land. Also, the UT administration had given compensation to the landowners, and the shop owners are illegal possessor of the government land. As per the Land Acquisition Act, the shopkeepers are directed to demolish/remove the illegal structure from the government land at their own level and restore the land without any encumbrance by June 28, failing which the shops will be demolished by the department. The expenses of removal/demolition will be recovered from the shopkeepers and legal action as per law will also be initiated against them.”