Chandigarh August 6:
People who had bought land “illegally” in areas covered under the Punjab Land Preservation Act have something to cheer about.
State government has cleared the decks for issuing a notification for excluding over 65,000 hectare from under the purview of the Act. Over 700 hectare in Mohali?s Nada, Karoran and Nayagaon villages will be the first to be notified under this. Punjab chief secretary SC Aggarwal told reporters, “Notification will be carried out district wise. The first notification file is pending with chief minister. Its process will get over any time now.”
This move was eagerly awaited by people who bought huge chunks of land in Nayagaon and Karoran anticipating change in land rules. Significantly, there are many politicians, police officials, bureaucrats and other heavyweights who have invested in these villages. Some of them had bought land without mentioning the source of money. Such officials and cops are also being investigated by state government. Most of the state’s politicians, it is believed, possess benami land in Nayagaon and have been instrumental in bringing about this change in rules.
”Subsequently, notifications for other districts like Ropar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur will follow,” said Aggarwal. The nod for this change had come from the Union ministry of forests last year. Subsequently, the government had twice sought opinion of the advocate general to verify that it was on firm legal ground while taking this decision. Government’s move will also benefit a large number of residents in these districts, who are facing problems on account of stringent provisions of the Act.
Under PLPA, no construction activity is allowed in the area and the state government had issued orders to stop releasing electricity and water connections to the residents there. However, unchecked violation of the Act has also led to haphazard construction of houses and commercial complexes in the areas, adding chaos to the confusion. Once construction is legalized there, residents will get the benefit of planned development, said sources.