Ludhiana | Colonisers, property dealers stage protest over ‘non-issuance’ of NOCs by GLADA

Slamming the state government over its claim to put an end to corruption in the state, the Punjab Colonisers and Property Dealers Association members said the decision to make NOC mandatory for registration of plots has further increased corruption in sub-registrar offices in Ludhiana

Lambasting the state government and Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authorities (GLADA) authorities over alleged non-issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOC), which are mandatory for registration of plots, Punjab Colonisers and Property Dealers Association staged a protest outside the sub-registrar office (West) on Hambran Road on Wednesday.

Members of Punjab Colonisers and Property Dealers Association submitting memorandum at sub- registrar’s office in Ludhiana. (HT PHOTO)

The protesting colonisers said unnecessary conditions are being imposed and NOCs are not being issued by the GLADA authorities even when the policy of the state allows regularisation of individual plots. They rued that there is a slump in the real estate sector and the residents are forced to make rounds of the GLADA office for availing the NOC.

Slamming the state government over its claim to put an end to corruption in the state, the members said the decision to make NOC mandatory for registration of plots has further increased corruption in sub-registrar offices.

President of the association GS Lamba said the department has stopped issuing NOCs for the plots, citing a recent order of the High Court wherein the court stated that registration should be done only after the plot owner gets NOC. “But the court never ordered the department to stop issuing NOCs. Even in the regularisation policy floated by the state government in 2018, it has been clearly stated that if the coloniser fails to get the colony regularised, a plot holder can get his individual plot regularised by paying the fee with only one condition that the colony should have been established before March 2018. But the department is not even issuing NOCs to the plot holders,” Lamba said.

The colonisers added that the residents, who have availed NOC from the department in the past, are not being issued the power connection. The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) asks for PSPCL’s NOC issued for the colony, which is an additional burden on the plot holders.

“The government has failed to announce an affordable housing scheme in the district. We are selling plots to residents at affordable prices and have even applied for getting the colonies regularised under the policy, but the government’s new conditions have been causing slump in the real sector. The department should issue NOCs without any further delay,” Lamba said, adding that the association will raise the agitation to next level in the coming days.

GLADA estate officer Preetinder Singh Bains said the NOCs are being issued to the plot holders, if they submit the proof that the colony was established before March 2018. “The plot holders only have to submit an undertaking with the department, as per the directions received from the state government, and no more conditions are imposed for issuance of NOC,” he added.