Ghaziabad encroachment fine: Committee keeps pvt vehicles out of ambit

The executive committee of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation also cleared a proposal for penalties for temporary and permanent encroachments.

Ghaziabad

Officials had earlier proposed to penalise two-wheelers and private cars too. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The executive committee of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation also cleared a proposal for penalties for temporary and permanent encroachments. However, officials, who had earlier proposed to include two-wheelers and private cars under the ambit of the encroachment bylaws, decided to exclude these vehicles.

As per the original proposal, parking of two-wheelers and cars on roads was to be considered temporary encroachment and owners of the vehicles were to be penalised. However, the two categories of vehicles were excluded from the bylaws on the intervention of Ghaziabad mayor Ashu Verma and other committee members.

“Most families have more than one vehicle as members have to go out to work separately. Then there are joint families and they own more than one vehicle. It would not be appropriate to include such vehicles in the bylaws. But we propose to bring commercial vehicles such as buses, school buses, cars on display for sales, vehicles of tours and travel operators, etc in the ambit of the bylaws as these vehicles are often parked on roads and government land,” Verma said.

The executive committee decided to make the amendment and send the proposal to the corporation board.

“The amendments will be incorporated and the bylaws will now be put up before the board for approval. The bylaws will generate revenue for the corporation and will also act as deterrent for encroachers,” said DK Sinha, additional municipal commissioner.

“Trucks, school buses, taxis and other commercial vehicles parked on roads eat up space. Such vehicle owners should be penalised,” said Kuldeep Kumar, a councilor and a member of the committee.

The committee also decided that encroachments, temporary or permanent, will be charged per day and the fine will be double on the second day.

For the recovery of the penalty for encroachment, the bylaws also have the provision to add the fine amount to the property tax bills of the residents. The fine amount will attract 12% annual interest.