Administration to offer furniture market traders land before demolition

Before carrying out an eviction drive at the furniture market in Sector 53, the UT Administration has decided to offer shops to the existing owners at the upcoming Bulk Market in Sector 56.

A senior official said the shop owners would be given a chance to purchase shops at the Bulk Market ahead of the demolition drive. These shops would be auctioned and offered on a leasehold basis, he added.

Kulbir Singh, owner of Fauji Furniture, stated that the administration should allot land in the new Bulk Market through a lottery system. The shops should be offered at the reserve price to be calculated on the basis of the price at which the land was acquired. He further stated that traders from other big cities would benefit in the open auction of the shops.

On June 22, the Land Acquisition Department had issued a notice to the shopkeepers of the furniture market to vacate the government land within a week.

In the notice, the department had stated that the land was acquired by the Chandigarh Administration in 2002 and the chunk formed part of Badheri village.

The department had asked the shopkeepers to clear the site by June 28. The shopkeepers were instructed to dismantle the illegal structures on government land. Failure to comply with the orders would result in the department undertaking demolition and expenses incurred would be borne by the shopkeepers themselves.

Legal actions were also slated to be initiated for non-compliance with the orders. Despite efforts by the shopkeepers to seek a stay order from the High Court, all petitions were disposed of in September 2023. The court’s decision upheld the administration’s right to reclaim the land, as it had already compensated the original landowners.

In response to the notices, a delegation of the Furniture Market Association on June 25 met DC Vinay Pratap Singh. After hearing their grievances, the DC asked them to file individual replies to the Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) before June 28, failing which demolition would be proceeded ex parte.

Of the shopkeepers who had been served demolition notices, 116 had filed their replies to the LAO. Later, 29 shops in the illegal furniture market were demolished as their owners had failed to submit their replies.