Legal plots, illegal colonies

It is like putting the cart before the horse. A recent legislation by the Punjab Government to do away with the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for getting properties registered and getting the basic amenities in illegal colonies has resulted in a piquant situation — ‘legal plots in illegal colonies’.

The government, by amending Sections 20 and 36 of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA), has allowed the plot holders to get basic civic amenities like water and power connection. But the amendments do not deal with the regularisation of the plot or the colony.

Officially, there are 14,000 illegal colonies in the state. But, it is common knowledge that the actual number of unauthorised colonies in the state is much more. Claiming to solve the problem of individual plot owners, the AAP government has amended certain provisions in PAPRA, 1995, allowing all those who have either purchased the plots before July 31, or those who have paid the initial money and can prove that the sale before July 31, to get all civic amenities and get their properties registered without the mandatory NOC.

No respite for bigger plots

However, there’s a catch here. The benefit has been extended for plots up to 500 sq yard only, leaving in lurch those having higher size plots.

Questioning this categorisation of the beneficiaries, Gurvinder Singh Lamba, President of the Punjab Colonisers and Property Dealer Association, said the piecemeal approach would complicate the issue, rather than solving it.

“There are different sizes of plots in such colonies. Giving civic amenities to those with smaller size plots and leaving others out does not make sense when essential services are to be laid in such colonies”, he pointed out, adding that while the government had amended certain sections of the PAPRA, it has not extended the cut off date from March 18, 2018 till July 31, 2024, in the Punjab Laws (Special Provisions for Regularisation of Unauthorised Colonies Act, 2018.

Politics and timing

Many believe that in wake of the coming civic bodies elections and the impending by-elections to four assembly segments, the government has adopted a piecemeal approach to deal with the issue, rather than adopting a holistic solution to deal with the haphazard urbanisation.

The illegal colony culture

In the absence of a government-controlled affordable housing policy to cater to the growing housing needs of the population, unauthorised colonies have mushroomed in and around urban centres in the state. As construction is undertaken in most such colonies it is the buyer who is left to bear the brunt as most of the colonisers wash their hands off all responsibility after accepting the money. It is these hapless buyers who will benefit by this amendmenth. But the bigger malady — the practice of selling plots in unauthorised colonies — remains unaddressed.

Financial challenges

But given the fiscal health of the civic bodies, especially in smaller towns, there is a huge questionmark on providing essential services at these colonies. The government is yet to come up with a road-map for managing the fiscal resources to make these services available to the plot holders in such colonies.

“In many areas, such colonies are not in the municipal limits of the civic bodies. But fall in the local planning areas of the local development authorities. Besides, the parameters for authenticating the sale agreement are yet to be defined and whether there is cut off date for registration of such plots”, said a Patiala-based coloniser.

Keeping a check

• The department has also issued instructions to check mushrooming of illegal colonies across the state.
• The Chief Administrators of regional development authorities at Patiala, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar have been asked to submit quarterly reports regarding new unauthorised colonies, details of action taken against the colonisers and erring officials, if any.

Points that need clarity

1. Status of The Punjab Laws (Special Provisions for Regularisation of Unauthorized Colonies)Act, 2018 which mandated the requirement for regularisation certificate in case of illegal colony. This policy fixed the cut-off date as March 18, 2018.
2. Status of the Rule 31 of Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Rules, 2022 that asks for the compounding of offences for development of illegal colonies and regularisation of illegal colonies.
3. Is the amendment leading to the violation of sec 19-A(1)(c) of the Punjab Registration Act, 1908, which has banned the sale deeds in colonies that violate any act of the state or central govt.
4. The amendment in PAPRA, 2024, is not changing the status of a colony from illegal to regularised one so what is the status of various provisions of PAPRA which are applicable to illegal colonies?
5. What is the status of Sections 3,5,6,9,15 and the Section 79 of Punjab Regional Town Planning and Development Act,1995 which mandates for change in land use, once the master plan has been notified?

A move against illegal colonies?

• Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, while announcing the amendments, had said the previous government had failed to stop mushrooming of illegal colonies. The AAP government through the amendments aims to help the genuine plot holders while dealing strictly with the promoters of illegal colonies.
• It has been pointed out that the amendments have been made to Section 20 and Section 36 of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act.
• While the amendments do not deal with the regularisation of the plot or the colony, it will allow the plot holders to get basic civic amenities like water and power connection.
• Under the amended Section 36 of the Act, the minimum punishment for those making these unauthorised colonies has been increased from three to five years, extendable to 10 years and the fine has been increased from ~2 lakh to ~25 lakh, extendable to ~5 crore.
• The previous Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government had brought Punjab Laws (Special Provisions for Regularisation of Unauthorised Colonies) Act, 2018, that specified that the sale agreements of such colonies or individual plots must have been executed before March 19, 2018. During the last SAD-BJP government, Punjab Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2013, was brought and amendments made in 2014 and 2016 to compound violations in illegal colonies and individual plots.