Deputy Commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav has stated that harsher enforcement measures are underway against unauthorised guesthouses and hotels in UT villages.
The DC was addressing a meeting of the Federation of Sectors Welfare Association Chandigarh (FOSWAC) at People Convention Centre, Sector 36-B, today. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Baljinder Singh Bittu. More than 94 representatives from various Residents Welfare Associations participated in it.
The DC said all issues raised by the residents would be forwarded to the departments concerned and addressed on priority. The Estate Office has cleared pending notices and streamlined property registrations and mutations through its portal. The special intensive revision (SIR) process was simple and citizen-friendly, he said, requesting FOSWAC to educate residents on it.
During the meeting, Bittu appreciated the DC for making the city slum-free and streamlining the property registration and mutation. He said there was an urgent need to review the newly announced Bed and Breakfast Policy by the Tourism Department, as it would lead to several problems. He demanded that illegal “rehris” and “phadis” be removed from footpaths immediately. Medical facilities for senior citizens are unsatisfactory and no permanent doctors have been appointed in several hospitals for over two decades, he said.
The president of the RWA, Independent Houses (Sector 13), KL Aggarwal, highlighted that parks maintained by the RWAs faced major issues. MOU renewal is cumbersome and maintenance of parks is being allotted to outsiders. Payments are being delayed intentionally to pressure the RWAs into giving up park maintenance, he alleged.
Kamaljeet Singh Panchhi, from the Sector 18 RWA, opposed the Bed and Breakfast Policy, stating that it would lead to parking issues. Ranjit Singh, president of the Sector 45 RWA (Burail), stated that the roads in his area were in poor shape.
Pardeep Chopra, secretary of FOSWAC, highlighted that Chandigarh’s three big hospitals were overcrowded by patients from the neighbouring states. He urged the administration to set up a Medicity and allow properly regulated nursing homes instead of the bed and breakfast scheme. VK Nirmal, from Sector 44 RWA; and DK Kapila, president of the Sector 36 RWA, said peak-hour traffic choked roads around schools and colleges, particularly near MCM College and Guru Nanak Public School, and demanded proper traffic regulation at these places.
Poonam Gulia, from the Sector 7 RWA, said a big garbage dump had come up near a school in her area. The pruning of trees has not been done despite repeated complaints, she said.
Dr KS Chaudhary, president of the Sector 38-West RWA, said small garbage dumps were mushrooming in residential areas. Dalwinder Singh Saini, from the Sector 40 RWA, said vacant plots in his sector should be auctioned immediately. Rajan Brar, from Citizens Association, Sector 21, alleged that there was no check on encroachments by illegal vendors in various markets.
