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GLADA razes 32 kiosks, shops near Jamalpur Chowk
The drive was stopped in between after the Waqf officials claimed that a major part of the land belongs to the board
Amid confusion over the ownership of land between Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) and Waqf Board, the civic body razed 32 illegal kiosks and shops near Jamalpur Chowk on Chandigarh Road on Friday.
The civic body had to stop the drive in between after the Waqf Board officials reached the spot and claimed that a major part of the land belongs to them and GLADA cannot demolish the structures built on their land. As per the information, there are 85 shops in the area.
Estate officer (regulatory), GLADA, Sonam Chaudhary said, “ Following the high court (HC) orders, a demolition drive was conducted to remove encroachments from the GLADA land. During the drive, 32 shops, including kiosks were razed. Action will be taken against the remaining shops also.”
Waqf Board estate officer, Ludhiana, Abdul Shakoor said, “As soon as I got information of the drive, I visited the spot.The GLADA officials were trying to demolish shops built on the board’s land, however, the shopkeepers have been submitting the rent with the board.”
“I have apprised the senior officials of Waqf Board about the incident and they will soon meet with the GLADA officials,” said Shakoor.
“The Waqf Board officials are claiming that a major part of land belongs to them but as per the GLADA records, the land was acquired by the civic body,” said Chaudhary.
One of the GLADA officials said that action against 12 more shops has been postponed for now.
Earlier, following HC directions, GLADA had issued notices to the shopkeepers in Jamalpur Awana (Chandigarh Road) in August last week. The shopkeepers were told to vacate the shops otherwise action will be taken against them. As none of the shopkeepers vacated the land, a GLADA team conducted the drive on Friday morning.
OFFICIALS REACH THE SPOT AT 6AM
The GLADA officials accompanied by heavy police force reached the spot at 6am. The shopkeepers rued that they were not given time to shift the material out from their shops. A shopkeeper said, “The demolition notices were also pasted at 4am on Friday morning.”
Mostly shops here are rented out and the tenants claimed that they have been running business for over three decades.
“The civic body officials reached the spot at 6am and asked us to shift out the material in 30 minutes,” said Gurdeep Singh, a shopkeeper.
“Many of the goods were buried under the rubble and we have suffered huge losses,” said another shopkeeper Tarwinder Singh.
No action against Guru Ravidas Gurdwara
During the drive, no action was taken against Guru Ravidas Gurdwara and the shops adjoining it. Earlier, the members of Ravidas Gurdwara Committee had threatened to hold a protest after the GLADA had also asked them to present ownership documents of the land.
DEMOLITION DRIVE Civic body stops the drive in between after Waqf Board officials reach the spot and claim that a major part of the land belongs to them;
