Poll toll: Illegal structures mushroom across Punjab

Aman Sood

Patiala, February 21

Illegal constructions are fast progressing in various parts of the state, causing losses worth crores, as the functioning of the town planning wing under Municipal Corporations has come to a halt because of the polls and connivance of officials. Under the garb of the Election Commission’s code of conduct, many lower-rung officials in the MCs of Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Bathinda “allowed day-night constructions”.

Won’t spare guilty

I will seek a detailed report from all corporations. Officials involved in this racket will not be spared. We will also write to the Election Commission to initiate action against the violators. —Puneet Goyal, Director, Local govt

Illegal constructions also mushroomed with political leaders extending support to such violators in the hope of garnering votes. “The building mafia gets active during every poll season. Everyone gets their share,” said a senior corporation official.

Sources said while Local Bodies Department has now sought a report, they are a toothless tiger till the Election Commission gives them a nod to proceed against all such buildings and officials responsible for it.

Dozens of such buildings have come up within a month, with active connivance of corporation officials and local politicians. While majority of them don’t have requisite permits, or are flouting building bylaws. Many buildings don’t even leave proper parking space, while in many others, unsafe constructions have been carried out, causing a threat to nearby buildings.

In Ludhiana and Patiala, many such buildings — both commercial and residential were allowed construction with the active role of corporation inspectors and top officers. In certain cases, bribe per building was paid to ensure no action was taken till the completion of work. In Patiala, buildings behind Officers Colony, Model Town, Punjabi Bagh, Bhupindra Road were allowed constructions without any check for past two months.

A top official of the town planning wing in the department confirmed to The Tribune that there were around 120 such unauthorised buildings that have come up in the past couple of months. “A majority of them are in Patiala, Amritsar, Lduhiana, Jalandhar and Bathinda. Officials followed orders of their local political masters and have not acted against such construction. In certain cases, bribes ensured corporation officials turned a blind eye to such violations,” he said.

“It was the responsibility of the MC commissioners to ensure that such buildings do not come up, but in a majority of the cases they just did not act, despite complaints. It is now for the Election Commission to take action against all such officials in whose jurisdiction such buildings were constructed”, he said.