Over a decade after AIT auctioned plots, dream house eludes allottees

Tribune News Service

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, June 7

Thirteen years after the auction of residential plots, the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) has failed to provide basic amenities to beneficiaries in the Ranjit Avenue area of the city. The residents who had spent their hard-earned money to buy plots, accused the AIT of harassment and for not responding to their grievances. Some of the residents came forward and wrote to the Chief Minister, Local Government Department, Deputy Commissioner and the AIT Chairman about the attitude of officials toward their problems. Interestingly, beneficiaries of the allotment wanted to construct their house, but in the absence of basic amenities, they were not able to fulfil their dreams as the area was under-developed. To top it all, the AIT is charging a penalty for non-construction of houses from allottees.

In December 2019, the AIT had re-allotted residential plots to beneficiaries of the 97-Acre Scheme at an alternative space on Ajnala Road. The beneficiaries of the scheme have been struggling for the construction of plots since 2011 due to objections raised by the Air Force authorities. These 48 beneficiaries had bought residential plots in the 97-Acre Scheme on Ajnala Road and Ranjit Avenue through a draw of lots on February 14, 2011. On July 26, 2016, the Air Force issued a notice to stop the construction of buildings alongside the boundary of Air Force Complex. These 48 beneficiaries failed to construct their houses and had been running from pillar to post since 2016. The then AIT Chairman Dinesh Bassi re-allocated the space and assured of developing the area soon. The AIT made a commitment to the beneficiaries that they could construct houses within two years without paying any penalty.

Jagjeet Singh Randhawa, one of the plot owners, said, “Our dream to construct a home is still unfulfilled even after a long struggle for re-allotment. I have written a letter to the AIT to provide basic amenities and they assured me that within six months, they will provide road, sewer, water and electricity. But even after four years, the AIT has failed to remove garbage dump from the site. There is no electricity, no streetlight and no boundary wall. I have conveyed my grievances to the AIT 12 times, but I am only getting false promises. The AIT has not been able to adhere to these guidelines.”

“In the last correspondence, they assured that tenders would be floated after the elections. Now elections are over and the Trust should work to provide basic amenities. I paid a non-construction penalty last year and they will ask to pay it again. So, they should remove garbage, fill the pond, construct boundary walls toward unauthorised colonies for safety, install streetlights and provide electricity connections,” said Randhawa.

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