AMRITSAR, Punjab: In response to a civil writ petition Uma Shankar Gupta, Director of the Department of Local Government, Punjab has directed municipal commissioners in the state to not allow construction without the approval of the building plan, and penalise the violators of the norms. The department has also directed commissioners to implement the Challan Management System in all the cities.
Shankar’s directives are in line with the 2012 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, asking the commissioners to take strict actions against any unauthorised construction and encroachments.
The challans issued for unauthorised construction against any individual should contain name of the violator, the address of the construction site, status of construction, and the area under construction. Additionally, pictures of the structure should be attached, and the challan should specify whether the violation was compoundable or not. Copy of the challan should also be provided to the construction site owner as well.