AMRITSAR, Punjab: The Public Action Committee (PAC) has written a letter to the state Governor, Gulab Chand Kataria, requesting him to set aside the bill introduced to regularise illegal colonies in Punjab. The Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2024 is expected to be passed by the House unanimously.
Dr Amandeep Singh Bains, Member, PAC, highlighted that this is the fifth time the government has come up with the policy to regularise illegal colonies as a time settlement. This defeats the very purpose of the PAPR Act.
He added that although we have the PAPR Act of 1995, there is a steady rise in the number of illegal colonies in the state. Even the introduction of criminal proceedings in the previous amendments made to the act has failed to check in the civic officials, including the urban local body, Punjab Urban Planning & Development Authority (PUDA), and revenue departments, who allow such illegal colonies to take root in the state.