Gandhi Nagar residents being harassed by Housing Board
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 14: Former Member Legislative Council (MLC) and secretary, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) JKUT, Ch. Vikram Randhawa, today called on Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs and raised the issue of residents of Gandhi Nagar.
During his deliberations with the Union Minister, Randhawa informed him that J&K Housing Board and some bureaucrats have misinformed the Lt. Governor about the alleged encroachment of roads by the residents of Gandhi Nagar Housing Colony which had issued a public notice to about 400 owners of the houses in the colony to vacate ten feet area in their front by November, 7, 2021.
He informed the Minister that the colony was established in the late 50s and since then thousands of building plans for construction of houses on these allotted plots were approved by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) showing the same 40ft width of the road in the front and it always had NOC from Housing Board. It woke up after 60 years because of fancy of some bureaucrats with sole objective of harassing peace loving residents of Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
He said that now the residents are being harassed and tortured by the administration and urged upon the Minister to intervene and provide immediate remedial steps so that the residents may get sigh of relief.
The Minister gave a patient hearing to the former MLC, who was accompanied by Mayor Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), Chander Mohan Gupta and secretary BJP Arvind Gupta, and assured them that the issue would be discussed with the officials of the department and appropriate action would be taken in this regard.
Meanwhile, Union Housing and Urban Development Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri assured the delegation of Traders Federation Ware House-Nehru Market who also called on him today that the people will not be made to vacate a space of 10 feet in Gandhi Nagar Colony of Jammu.
The delegation was led by Deepak Gupta and it took the issue of Gandhi Nagar. He said that after abrogation of contentious Article 370 of the Constitution, Jammu is facing the heat of almost every action of UT Government. In a latest dose of harassment to Jammuites, the ‘responsive’ administration has come up with a unique plan to “retrieve” 10-ft strip in the front from the plot holders of J&K’s oldest well-planned Housing Colony of Gandhi Nagar. Adopting a strategy of coercion, the Housing Board is withholding the online NOC of those plot holders who have submitted their building plans to JMC for approval to reconstruct or renovate the old structure, forcing them to visit its office. They are told about unauthorised possession of 10feet land in the front and unless they vacate it by reconstructing the boundary wall 10-ft inside their plot, NOC would not be given. Now, the over-enthusiastic Housing Board moved ahead to remove this ‘encroachment” soon by force if not vacated by the residents voluntarily which is a cause of concern and has generated a lot of public resentment in this region.
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