MC eats crow, relieves ATP accused of irregularity

Reports that a building under construction in the city was regularised in breach of the regulations sent the municipal corporation (MC) into damage control.

Reports that a building under construction in the city was regularised in breach of the regulations sent the municipal corporation (MC) into damage control. Though his transfer orders were issued three weeks ago, an assistant town planner, Harpreet Ghai, who has been implicated in the irregularity, was relieved of his duties with immediate effect and told to take up his new posting in Moga.

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MC commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agarwal confirmed Ghai had been relieved of his duties.

According to the government’s policy, no unauthorised colony or building that came up after April 1, 2013, can be regularised.

A local Right to Information Act (RTI) activist, Rohit Sabharwal, had raised questions about a building under construction near the Rajgarh Fusion Colony being issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) by the MC in violation of the relevant norms laid down by the state government. He had accused Ghai of issuing the NOC with the connivance of officials of the MC’s building branch.

Following the allegations, MC zonal commissioner (zone B) Kamlesh Bansal had marked an inquiry into the case.

Earlier, an MC official had also written to the local bodies department secretary that Ghai had failed to take action to stop illegal construction of some buildings in the city. However, Ghai has denied the allegations.

Eleven building inspectors including Bhupinder Singh, Pradeep Mittar, Taranpal Singh, Paul Parneet, Rajveer Kaur, Rahul Kumar, Arun Khanna, Harjit Singh, Nirmaljeet Verma, Manpreet Kaur and Navneet Khokhar were shifted to different zones.

Meanwhile, additional commissioner Rishipal Singh said such transfers were routine.