Squatters galore, yet UT administration has no concrete record

Geo-mapping plan announced by the previous deputy commissioner in July 2024 fails to take off

- Hillary Victor

CHANDIGARH: With the illegal Sector 53/54 furniture market likely to be removed in two weeks, residents' hopes for an encroachment-free City Beautiful have risen.

The Chandigarh administration recently issued eviction notices to the furniture traders who have been illegally occupying government land since 1985.

However, while the administration notably excels in navigating paperwork, it surprisingly lacks a clear record of squatters across the city—leaving the full scale of encroachments in the city undocumented and overlooked.

This, even though last year in July, the then deputy commissioner, Vinay Partap Singh, had announced UT's plan to undertake geo-mapping to ascertain the areas under encroachment.

Six months later, the announcement remains only on paper with no on-ground measures to check encroachments.

Conversely, the Chandigarh municipal corporation has identified 68 acres of its land that is under encroachment in 23 villages in the city, with most cases already in court.

As per rough estimates, at least 100 acres of precious government land in Chandigarh is under encroachment.