Citing the recent report submitted by Municipal Corporation’s (MC) additional commissioner on the 57,800-plus illegal constructions in the city between 2016-2020, the Council of Engineers on Tuesday wrote to governor Banwarilal Purohit demanding an independent inquiry into the entire case through the chief secretary.
They also sought transfers of the MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal and senior town planner (STP) SS Bindra to ensure a fair inquiry.
Accusing the local bodies department of not taking action against building branch officials, who were allegedly working in connivance with the violators, the engineers’ body said the department failed to initiate criminal proceedings against them despite the orders by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Members, including president Kapil Arora, said no action has been taken in the case even after over two months after the submission of the report, adding that it was proof of the officials being complicit.
“Commercial constructions have also been allowed in residential areas which has now become a menace. A large number of buildings, for which building plans were approved, have also been constructed against the building by laws. It seems like the Commissioner is also protecting the illegal constructions by not acting on the report,” Arora alleged.
“The local bodies department has been notifying one time settlement policies in the past to regularise the illegal buildings instead of taking action. This is a nexus and we have demanded that the Governor should direct the chief secretary to get an independent inquiry done in the case and criminal proceedings should be initiated against the concerned officials,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“The local bodies department has been notifying one time settlement policies in the past to regularise the illegal buildings instead of taking action. This is a nexus and we have demanded that the Governor should direct the chief secretary to get an independent inquiry done in the case and criminal proceedings should be initiated against the concerned officials,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The report
The additional commissioner Rishipal Singh’s report suggests that a total of 76,770 power connections were issued by the PSPCL in the areas falling under MC’s jurisdiction during the period from 2016-2020, out of which the civic body only approved building plans for 7,467 buildings.
The report added that challans were issued against 11,441 buildings, while no action was taken against the remaining 57,862 buildings.
A section of the councillors and MC officials alleged instances wherein new power connections issued for pre-existing buildings were added to the list of illegal buildings, questioning the report’s merit.
They further said several building owners had a sub-meter installed in the same building and that labour quarters with separate power connections in a single building.
Notably, in June 2021, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders led by state vice-president Parveen Bansal had also objected to thousands of “absurd” notices issued by the civic body for illegal constructions, following which the MC later stopped issuing notices.