The Municipal Corporation (MC), Ludhiana, which owns 326 commercial properties across the city, has failed to maintain lease records of several of its leased properties, with agreements of eight properties stated to be unavailable and many leases having expired years ago.
Documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by city resident Rohit Sabharwal revealed that out of the 326 properties, 301 are on rent while 25 have been leased to educational institutions, trusts and other organisations.
The records also indicate that several leases date back to the 1950s and 1960s, while some expired decades ago without updated agreements on record, raising questions over the civic body’s property management and record-keeping.
According to the RTI documents, the civic body had outstanding dues of Rs 5.93 crore from rented and leased properties up to July 31, 2020. This includes Rs 5.86 crore as rent and Rs 6.75 lakh as lease amount.
The documents reveal that eight of the 25 leased properties do not have lease agreements available in the MC records. These include properties leased to Arya College, Civil Lines; Kundan Vidya Mandir; Dharamik Sewa Trust; Shri Krishna Charitable Hospital; Khalsa Education College, Ghumar Mandi; Mission Trust (Sarb Rog Ka Aukhad Naam); and two properties allotted to the Police Commissioner, Ludhiana. Against these entries, the RTI record specifically mentions “Agreement Not Available”.
Only three leased properties — two allotted to Verka Dairy (Milkfed booths) and one to Shri Dandi Swami Golok Dhaam — have copies of lease agreements available with the MC. The records show that these agreements are still valid and have not expired.
Another set of RTI documents related to older municipal lease records reveals that several properties continue to remain under long-term leases granted decades ago. Some leases began as early as 1956, while others were executed in the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.
The records show that the lease of Shri Amargir Singh dates back to 1956. The property leased to Bharat Dharam Prachar Mandal is valid from April 20, 1983, to June 2, 2062. Guru Harkrishan Public Pathi A.P. Library was granted a lease up to June 5, 2092, while the Punjab Committee Martyrs Bhagat Singh Colony Welfare Association has a lease valid till October 20, 2085.
However, several leases have already expired. These include properties leased to Sunder Lal (Blind Well), whose lease ended in 1994, Bhala Kalyan Home, whose lease expired on June 30, 2013 and Shri Charan Singh Bhala Memorial Home, whose lease expired in November 1994. The records do not indicate whether fresh lease agreements were executed in these cases.
The RTI documents also contain details of six major leased properties under Zone-A of the Municipal Corporation. They show that while some leases have been extended up to 2043 and 2075, in two cases the lease period has not been specified in the records.
The documents further indicate that outstanding dues relating to these properties increased from around Rs 66.09 lakh in 2022-23 to more than Rs 2.40 crore as on March 31, 2023.
Meanwhile, another RTI reply from the Directorate of Local Government, Punjab, states that 34 complaints submitted by Rohit Sabharwal regarding alleged irregularities in municipal properties, lease matters, encroachments, building violations, change of land use (CLU), road works and other civic issues have been forwarded to the competent authorities for inquiry.
The department informed the applicant that the complaints have been sent to the concerned authorities for examination and action, and that he would be informed about the outcome after the inquiries are completed
The list of complaints includes allegations relating to non-renewal of expired leases of municipal properties, illegal encroachments on public land, unauthorised constructions, alleged misuse of residential properties for commercial purposes, substandard road works and requests for vigilance inquiries into various matters concerning the MC.
Tapan Bhanot, MC Joint Commissioner said, “I have already directed the officers in the branch to renew the agreement which got expired and find out the documents of missing agreements and we have already issued notices to the owners who have failed to come and renew their lease and who have failed to pay the rent”.
