No check on illegal PGs in city

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 23

The fire incident at a paying guest (PG) accommodation in Chandigarh on Saturday, which claimed the lives of three girl students, has drawn attention towards gross violation of rules and regulations at these accommodations in the city.

A large number of PGs in the city has not been registered with the Municipal Corporation (MC). Ironically, the MC is unaware of the exact number of illegal PGs.

An MC official claimed that there would be more than 300 PGs around Guru Nanak Dev University, Khalsa College and Ranjit Avenue. Besides, many PGs are situated in other areas, including GT Road, New Amritsar, Circular Road and Majitha Road.

According to rules, the house owner should have a trade licence to run a PG. The licencing wing of the civic body is authorised to issue the licence. An official said: “If the owner of the house is not staying in the building and people are living on rent in it, a change of land use (CLU) is required for the commercial use of a domestic building. The property tax wing should assess PGs as commercial properties. Moreover, the department should collect commercial charges for sewerage and water consumption from the owners. The Fire Department should also keep a check on fire safety measures.”

However, most of the PG owners do not submit the record of tenants with the police and they do not take any action in this regard.

MC Commissioner Komal Mittal said, “We are planning to launch a massive drive to check PGs that are violating rules and functioning without getting registered with the MC. We will give their owners time to get registration done. If they fail to do so, strict action will be taken.”