Eco City draw put off amid high drama

Tribune News Service

Mohali, February 16

GMADA officials today postponed the draw for the allotment of showrooms and commercial plots of Eco City project, Phase I, leaving the fate of over 380 LoI (Letters of Intent) holders uncertain.

High drama was witnessed at the Community Centre in Sector 70, where the draw was to be held, when some farmers from the Eco City Kissan Sangharsh Committee raised objection regarding the 'clubbing' of multiple plots, ahead of the draw.

GMADA officials had to intervene, requesting the two groups to maintain order before certain allottess had heated arguments.

Mohan Lal Gupta, said, "GMADA had earlier agreed to allot plots as a combined unit with successive serial numbers to multiple plot owners. There needs to be a consistent policy on the issue."

"If I have 6 SCOs, but they are built distant from each other, it would be unviable. We want serial numbers to be together for multiple shops," said a zamindar.

Lalli Johar, an NRI from Canada, who had invested in a plot in 2012, said the GMADA officials should have sorted out the clubbing issue before holding a draw. "I have been waiting for possession for almost six years now. There is still no clarity," he said.

Pooja Garg from GMADA said, "We have decided to postpone the draw since it became a law and order issue, with people pushing each other. There was no mutual consent among the parties on the issue."

The Eco City project was launched in 2011 for the development of New Chandigarh. GMADA had acquired around 400 acre of land in Mullanpur for developing Eco City I. After the land was acquired, GMADA had failed to hold the draw due to some technical reasons.