Trust charged with illegal construction, CLU

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, March 24

There is more to it than meets the eye on the ongoing construction of a new building in the campus of Guru Nanak Girls College – run by Guru Nanak Educational Trust – in Model Town locality here. While the college management claims that it is an extension of college complex, the local residents allege that the building is being constructed for a hospital, that too without statutory change of land use and approved building plan.

In a complaint lodged with the Punjab Minister for Local Bodies, the Principal Secretary, Local Government, Punjab, the Director of Local Bodies, Punjab, the Chief Vigilance Officer of Local Government and the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, secretary of Council of RTI Activists Arvind Sharma has alleged that officials of the building branch were abetting the illegal construction activity.

He said right from the time when work had been taken up to construct a huge basement, and then at the time of construction of the ground floor, complaints were lodged with officials of building branch/Zone D of the MC but no action was apparently taken to stop construction work.

“On the contrary, pace of construction work was pushed up and at the same time, the constructed portion of the building was simultaneously painted or whitewashed to create an impression that it was an old construction,” Sharma said, adding that the construction of such a huge building without change of land use and an approved building plan was not at all possible without active connivance of the MC officials.

The ATP (Zone D), Vijay Kumar, said as per Guru Nanak Educational Trust, the building under construction is an extension of the complex, and there seems to be no reason to disbelieve this assertion.

“For taking up construction of the building without an approved building plan, a challan has been issued and demand raised for composition fee. Whereas allegations, that the building is being constructed for a hospital, are concerned, appropriate action will be taken as per rules if a hospital is set up in the building,” the ATP said.