Civic body, AIT pass the buck, say Dhobi Ghat site not theirs

Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 24

Confusion prevails on the land ownership of Dhobi Ghat as officials of the Municipal Corporation (MC) and the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) say the land doesn’t belong to them. The tragic train mishap at the site had claimed 58 lives on the occasion of Dasehra on Friday.

Both agencies are fending off the responsibility regarding the issuance of approval for holding the Dasehra event, which claimed 58 lives. Amid the ongoing magisterial inquiry, officials of the MC as well as the AIT are trying to save their skin.

MC officials have got land record from the revenue department which reveals that the Amritsar Improvement Trust owns the Dhobi Ghat land. The Tribune has a copy of the land record.

Jeewan Lal, Estate Officer of the AIT, claimed that the Trust had handed over the Golden Avenue town planning scheme to the MC in 1998. Now, MC is responsible for its use, he said.

MCofficials argue that the AIT is the owner of the land in the revenue record, so they are authorised to give permission to organise any event.

Jeewan Lal said, “We have developed over 150 localities and handed 130 schemes over to the MC. They are collecting property tax and taking care of roads, parks and grounds. Now, MC is responsible for everything.” Officials of both agencies will record their statements in front of the magistrate probing the incident.

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2JhSBbq