Uncertainty looms over regularised plots in illegal colonies of Punjab
MOHALI :With the four-month window for regularising illegal colonies in Punjab ending this week, the future of residents who got their plots regularised or applied for it is uncertain where their coloniser didn’t seek regularisation.
The aim of bringing illegal colonies under planned development and providing amenities to residents of these colonies are unlikely to be resolved with the policy getting a poor response from colonisers. The policy, notified in November, allows for the regularisation of colonies and plots independent of each other. While there was a four-month period for the colonisers to apply for the regularisation, there is no such deadline for plot holders. This provision in the policy will create problems for residents. Even when plots in a colony are regularised, the colony is illegal if the coloniser doesn’t apply for regularisation before deadline. colony will be illegal but the plot legal. The policy mandates that if the coloniser or the resident welfare association doesn’t apply for regularisation within the stipulated period, the colony can be demolished. The authority is bound to start identifying illegal colonies that have not applied for regularisation. It has to issue notice in such cases offering regularisation with 20% penalty or stipulated action against the colony and colonizer, as per the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA). The authority has to complete this exercise within three months.
PAPRA provides penalties and punishments for colonisers of illegal colonies. Criminal proceedings can be initiated against the coloniser with the registration of a FIR. The power supply, sewage and water supply can be disconnected to illegal colonies. Similarly, the approval of building plans, sale deeds and transfer for properties in colonies can be stopped. Thereafter, the authority can initiate action for the demolition of the illegal colony. In such colonies, all buildings that have not applied for regularisation can also be demolished.
“After the deadline has expired, the government should start taking action against the colonisers of illegal colonies. It should demolish illegal colonies and illegal constructions. Individual plot owners who have constructed houses and got these regularised should be given alternative land or compensation. But the government should recover land of illegal colonies and develop them in a planned manner,” says Kapil Arora, president of the Council of Engineers. It is planning to move the Punjab and Haryana high court urging the government to take immediate steps to demolish illegal colonies.
As per the policy, in case of illegal colonies and unauthorised plots, no development will be made out of funds from the public exchequer. The problem for owners of regularised houses and plots in an illegal colony can crop up because the policy doesn’t allow for using money collected from plot regularisation for infrastructural development till the colony is legalised. Priority of the government should be not only to punish the violators but also to stop the growth of illegal colonies, say experts. “There should be an independent audit of illegal colonies. Even for colonies where the application for regularisation has been submitted, regularisation should only be done if all conditions have been met,” says Arora.