Fresh notices to owners of SCFs turned into SCOs in Ludhiana

The Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) has served fresh notices to owners of shop-cum-flats (SCFs) in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Block-E that have been converted into shop-cum-offices (SCOs) without required permission.

The Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) has served fresh notices to owners of shop-cum-flats (SCFs) in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Block-E that have been converted into shop-cum-offices (SCOs) without required permission.

The SCF owners have been asked to remove the violations within 15 days. Also LIT has issued directions to remove a mobile tower that was illegally installed on the roof of an SCF.

The move came following a complaint by city resident Arvind Sharma. He had alleged that SCFs were being illegally converted into SCOs and commercial activities were going on unabated in the residential portion of the SCFs in violation of building bylaws. He had also approached the state vigilance bureau with his complaint.

LIT sub-divisional officer Boota Ram said fresh notices were issued to owners of 30 SCFs on February 12 as they were conducting commercial activities in violation of the bylaws.

He added that a notice had also been served to the owner of an SCF for installing a mobile tower without permission. The owner had been directed to remove the tower, Ram said.

He further said commercial activities were not allowed in the flat area of an SCF: "If the owners of these SCFs don't remove the violations, required action will be taken in accordance with the state government."

The LIT had issued similar notices to the SCF owners several months ago, but neither the owners removed the violations nor the authorities initiated any action against the violators.

It may be mentioned that similar SCFs are constructed in various areas of the city and have been illegally converted into SCOs.