Kuldip Bhatia Ludhiana February 7 Having allegedly earned notoriety as corrupt and inefficient wing of the Municipal Corporation (MC) the building branch of the civic body is once again in the news for wrong reasons. Contrary to claims made by top officials elected representatives (Mayor) and even the cabinet minister from the city regarding curbing the menace of illegal commercial buildings proliferating in the city with a heavy hand several new commercial buildings are under various stages of construction in the posh locality of Model Town Extension and commercial hub Bhadaur House in violation of the change of land use without approved building plans or against building bylaws. Taking note of a complaint about a hotel in Bhadaur House being converted into a shopping complex the MC Commissioner Pradeep Sabharwal has ordered a probe into the matter and the municipal town planner (MTP) has sought relevant records from the assistant town planner (ATP) concerned of zone-A after a spot visit. It is learnt that in the layout plan of Bhadaur House Market which was developed by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust and later handed over to the MC for maintenance the hotel was constructed in a shop-cum-office (SCO) site and now it was being converted into a shopping complex. Similarly a shopping complex is under construction in a residential area of Model Town Extension where already many shops and commercial establishments are in existence without any change of land use or approved building plans. Even though the field staff and supervisory officials of the MC claim that notices have been issued to builders for violations they fail to explain if the illegal construction activity was in their knowledge and notices had been issued how the construction work was allowed to continue? ATP (Zone-A) Mohan Singh said the MTP had visited the site on the directions of senior officials and further the owners of the building had already deposited the CLU charges. As for the approval of the building plan he said the owners had claimed that no major alteration in the structure was made and no floor area had been added. Total inaction against such illegal buildings and blatant violations was more due to active “connivance” of the employees and officials of the building branch rather than negligence or dereliction of duty.

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