The Times of India  12.08.2010

Illegal colony razed in city

LUDHIANA: Acting tough against illegal colonization, the municipal corporation (MC) demolished an under-construction colony at Hambran Road here on Wednesday.

Being built for the last one month on 11,000 square yards, the colony was razed after the MC got a tip-off around three days back. During the drive, nobody from the contractor's side turned up at the site for owning up responsibility or to stop the officials.

The MC officials also sealed a sweets shop for defying the land use policy. The shopkeeper had erected a gate in the residential colony. Commercial activities could take place only at the main road and not in residential colonies.
"We had received information about the construction three days back. We demolished it immediately as no permission had been sought from corporation," said assistant town planner SS Bindra.

The MC officials had removed three illegal colonies at Kakowal Road on July 27. The contractor had started the works by building boundary walls and installing the sewerage and water connections.

In December 2009, the MC's town planning wing had razed around 150 housesin Haibowal. Similarly, on May 27, a three-member vigilance team had visited four unauthorized colonies in Haibowal.

These colonies exist mostly on the outer areas, especially on Hambran Road, Jalandhar Bypass, Kakowal Road and Haibowal.

Sources said the action against unauthorized colonies remained limited up to dismantling of the illegal structures and authorities did not penalize any colonizer till now. Most of these were either being developed by relatives of councillors or the acquaintances of officials. The officials cited political pressure.