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Chandigarh to offer furniture traders shops on lease in Sector 56
The decision will be followed by an eviction drive at the furniture market, which is located on government land, bordering Mohali
Ending a long-standing deadlock, the UT administration has finally decided to offer shopkeepers of the Sector-53 Furniture Market alternative shops on leasehold basis at the upcoming Bulk Market in Sector 56.
The decision will be followed by an eviction drive at the furniture market, which is located on government land, bordering Mohali.
A senior officer from the UT administration said, “After receiving several representations from furniture traders, we have decided to offer them shops at the Bulk Market in Sector 56. The shops will be auctioned on leasehold basis. The reserve price will be fixed soon, and we are hopeful that the entire process will be completed within a month.”
On June 22 this year, the land acquisition officer (LAO) had issued a notice to the furniture traders, directing them to vacate the government land by June 28, following which they gave representations to the UT administration.
Subsequently, on June 28, deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh put the demolition drive on hold.
The traders 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.
In the June 22 notice served on the shopkeepers, the land acquisition department had said, “The land was 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.”
The shopkeepers were directed to demolish/remove the illegal structures from the government land at their own level by June 28, failing which the shops will be demolished by the department, followed by legal action.
The unauthorised furniture market was established on agricultural land in 1985. Housing 116 shops, the market, flanking both sides of the Sector 53/54 dividing road, is a persistent source of traffic chaos due to wrongly parked vehicles.
As the market is illegal, the municipal corporation has also imposed no fire-safety measures. Consequently, the market has seen over a dozen fire mishaps since its inception.
The lack of fire safety measures is evident, with no fire exits, inadequate ventilation and minimal space between shops that store large quantities of furniture and drums of thinners.
Sanjeev Bhandari, president of the Furniture Market Association, said, “We have not received any formal intimation from the UT administration. Once we do, we will assess the reserve price they set, as we are already paying around ₹10 crore as GST annually.”
