File declaring Congress MLA’S house as colony goes missing
KARNAL: The file containing the details of how Samalkha’s sitting Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhokar’s house set up in six-kanal area was declared as a “regularised colony” went missing from Haryana urban local bodies department (ULBD).
This was disclosed after a show-cause notice (copy of which is with HT) was issued by Lokayukta to the department’s principal secretary for non-compliance with his order to fix responsibility and take action against the erring officials. Based on a complaint of a Panipat-based social activist PP Kapoor, the Lokayukta had directed the urban local bodies department to take action against officials who had given approval to the said file.
“The concerned file is not traceable in the branch, hence, a communication has been sent to the chief town planner to initiate the whereabouts of the file in their record,” reads the letter written by the under-secretary of the principal secretary to the Lokayukta, seeking 15 days’ time to locate the file. Kapoor has accused the officials of Samalkha civic body and ULBD of working “under pressure”.
He alleged the then Samalkha SDM, Gaurav Kumar, in his probe report had informed the Haryana Lokayukta that the “urban local body showed undue haste in regularising the singlehouse colony even as he had recommended against it. But the directorate of ULBD had overlooked the report”. He said the six-kanal land on NH 44 was a part of an unapproved 20-acre Durga Colony, construction of which was started during the Congress regime in 2013. The local authorities had forwarded the Durga Colony case to the ULBD for approval, but was rejected as it failed to fulfil the set norms, he added. In March 2014, Samalkha civic body named Chhokar’s house as Sai Enclave Colony and resent the case to the ULBD. In November last year, this ‘one-house colony’ was approved and the ULBD took four years to give its approval to the same. In the meantime, Chhokar completed the construction of the house, alleged Kapoor.
Despite repeated attempts, comments of ULBD principal secretary couldn’t be elicited.