Punjab govt offers to settle 8-yr-old land dispute in Mohali

The Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) had acquired about 1,400 acres to develop urban estate in Sectors 76 to 80 in 2001. While the owners of over 1,200 acres accepted the monetary compensation,others challenged the acquisition and rejected the compensation calling it “meagre”.

With the courts restraining any activity on the disputed land spread across almost all sectors,the allottees of over 1,400 plots were awaiting allotment eight years after receiving the letters of intent. Over 2,500 of the total 3,931 carved out plots had been issued allotment letters in 2008 and 2007.

Punjab Additional Advocate General Amol Rattan Singh told the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday that the state government had decided to allot alternative sites to those landowners,who had not yet accepted the monetary compensation,subject to certain terms and conditions.

The Division Bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel,however,asked Singh to file an affidavit for consideration.

Singh told Newsline that the affidavit,detailing the government’s decision to solve the long pending litigation,would be filed soon.

Vivek Partap Singh,Chief Administrator,Greater Mohali Area Development Authority confirmed the development. He said: “We are examining the legal repercussions in the case.”

Elated over the government’s decision,B S Baidwan,general secretary of the Kisan Hit Bachao Committee spearheading the cause of landowners,said already development projects besides the interests of landowners and allottees had been hanging fire for the last eight years due to delay in government’s decision to compensate the landowners.

Seeking relief on the lines of that to Radha Soami Satsang Beas and other institutions,Baidwan said against 137 acres under dispute,the owners demand 97 acres developed sites without any monetary compensation as one-time compensation measure.

The landowners had tabled their demand before a special panel formed as per the court order and the panel had decided in-principle to solve the issue at its meeting held last month.