S.P.PANDEY :Chandigarh March 26 : BJP candidate for Chandigarh Lok Sabha Constituency Mr Satya Pal Jain today promised that on coming to power in Centre his party will allow construction of one additional floor in all residential and commercial structures including Bay-shops and booths etc. This has become necessary as population of the city has increased at a very fast rate and housing has not kept pace with the requirements of the population.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr Jain accused the Congress party of neglecting housing needs of the city and not formulating a comprehensive housing policy for the residents of the City Beautiful. “Population has increased many folds rendering housing and parking totally inadequate” he asserted. In spite of being in power congress has failed in its duty, even as it enjoys majority in the municipal corporation, has itself appointed the Adviser and Administrator and is running the central government too. In spite of its control over all facilities the Congress party has made it a habit to blame others and put out excuses for not doing its duty.
Mr Jain promised that on coming to power BJP will draw up a 10-year plan for the growth of the city. Accusing Congress government of being insensitive of the needs of aam aadmi he said under this government several government institutions are indulging in profiteering and government has turned into a property dealer instead of addressing the needs of residents. Mr Jain criticised the Congress controlled Chandigarh Administration for charging up to 30 lakh rupees for a 2 bedroom house. His party will undertake a thorough overhaul of official policies to make these citizen-friendly.
He assured that the additional floor will not disturb the character of the city nor endanger basic structure of the city planned by Le Corbusier. He said the city has enough resilience to take such changes. Mr Jain pointed out that several buildings in various sectors of the city – including those raised by Chandigarh Housing Board – already have four stories. Proper guidelines will be framed by an experts committee to ensure that safety and other requirements are met.
Mr Jain recalled that Chandigarh Administration has already allowed an additional floor in the settlement colonies but so far the there is no housing policy and all decisions have been taken in an ad-hoc manner. He said his party will regularise houses built on self owned land outside lal-dora, the present practice of demolishing such structures while Chandigarh is suffering from shortage of housing is shocking. He asserted that such demolition had never taken place during BJP NDA rule.
Mr Jain said on coming to power BJP will address the requirement of parking space for the present and additional population of the city, multi-story and underground parking facilities will be created for this purpose after a proper study. He admitted that parking is already a problem in the city and the additional floor will add to the problem. That is why BJP is pleading for a comprehensive housing policy. This policy will address the additional floor in residential and commercial structures as also the provision of parking facility – multi story or underground – where possible.
Mr Jain said compensation for land acquired by Chandigarh Administration was way below that given by neighboring Punjab and Haryana. On coming to power BJP will ensure that Chandigarh pays compensation not less then being paid in Punjab.
Answering questions Mr Jain said the biggest issue of the city today was about long term planning and this has been totally neglected by the Congress party. He said his party will ensure public participation in decision making process in the city. To another question he said Congress party is holding all levers of power in the city from top to bottom and if it still cannot address the problems of the city and says BJP is blocking its way, it is only evading the issue and trying to befool the people. He also accused the ruling party of not initiating moves for consensuses building on the major issues facing Chandigarh, had it been done problems would not have aggravated.