Panchkula: Following complaints of building violations by residents, the Haryana Housing Board (HHB) has decided to conduct a survey in the HHB colonies in Panchkula to bring an end to the malpractice.
After compiling a report, HHB authorities will take strict action against violators. There are complaints that many residents have violated laws and constructed extra floors and changed designs from inside.
A senior officer of the HHB, on the condition of anonymity, said there has been more than one year that no survey was conducted in the colonies. “In the wake of increasing complaints of violations being committed by the residents, a need for the same was felt.”
Though reports of violations have been coming from every sector of the city, the initial information has shown sectors 15, 19 and 26 of Panchkula are the worst hit.
There are 6,000 houses of the housing board in at least 10 sectors of the city —- sectors 8, 18, 11, 10, 15, 6, 14, 19, 26 and 28. “Apart from other violations, the survey will look into the encroachments done on public land by these colonies,” the official said.
In the past, efforts were made to check commercial use of the Housing Board colonies with various shops opened being closed. “A regular survey in this regard is also being planed,” he added.
Many residents have welcomed the move of the board. “There are people living in these colonies who have encroached a large portion of land of the roads, narrowing them to an extend that even a car cannot pass through,” said Suman Sharma, a resident of Sector 19.
Source: ENS