GLADA all set to crack the whip

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, December 11

After asking the revenue officials not to register title deeds and advising the power utility against issuing new power connections in around 1,000 illegal colonies located under its jurisdiction, the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) is now all set to take yet another step to save the gullible public from falling in the trap of unscrupulous developers. The process has been set in motion to put up sign boards at all unlicensed/illegal colonies to caution people against investing their hard earned money in such colonies.

Officials said a list of unlicensed/illegal colonies, including those which had not applied for regularisation under the previous policy, or those whose applications were rejected, had already been uploaded on the official web site of GLADA and a list of such colonies had also been sent to officials of the Revenue Department as well as Punjab State Power Corporation Limited for non-registration of title deeds and issue of new electricity connections respectively.

“An elaborate exercise has already been put in motion for putting up sign boards at all such colonies saying that these are illegal, so that the developers are not able to misrepresent the facts and people could be saved from buying plots/houses in such illegal colonies,” said an official.

The authority had earlier also put up sign boards at various unlicensed colonies way back in 2012-13 but after the then government came out with a policy for regularisation of colonies and plots/properties in these colonies, the sign boards were removed and the practice was put on the hold.

A city-based developer, Anand Gupta, said: “The unscrupulous developers are able to fool the public because rates of plots/properties in unlicensed colonies are obviously lower in comparison to licensed colonies where the developers have to pay licence fee, change of land use charges and external development charges. But on the other hand investing in property in an illegal colony remains a risky proposition because not only the developers invariably do not provide basic amenities but threat of demolition also looms large over property owners.”