Row over construction of govt quarters at Kamra Gardens

When contacted, Horticulture assistant director Himmat Singh Gill said that in 1992, the district authorities had encroached upon five kanals of department land without informing them, on the plea of ensuring security for the Civil Rest House, which is also located within the Kamra Gardens.

In December, on the orders of Deputy Commissioner, the Public Works Department had started constructing residential quarters on 25 marlas of land.

Gill said that he had informed the director regarding the illegal construction on January 1. The director, after seeking clarifications, had written about the encroachment to the government.

Initially spread over an area of 51 acres, the Kamra Gardens had its area reduced to 22 acres after the construction of 78 government quarters by the district authorities in 1972. The district Red Cross Society has also managed to construct two snack bars after encroaching upon the land.

Now, the Agriculture Department is constructing a soil-testing laboratory after cutting down more than 85 guava trees on one acre of land that was recently transferred by the Horticulture Department to the Agriculture Department.

When contacted, Public Works Department SDO Sudhir Kumar said that the construction work was on at war-footing and that the District Planning Board had released Rs 10 lakh for the construction of residential quarters.

On visiting the site it was observed that the foundation had indeed been laid and the work has been temporarily stopped only because the contractor had not been paid by the Treasury department.

Deputy Commissioner Usha Sharma said that the administration was planning to build three more residential quarters, besides the residence of Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development).

When her attention was drawn toward the letter written by Horticulture director regarding the encroachment, she said that the assistant director had not informed her about the land belonging to the Horticulture Department, and added that it did not matter since Horticulture was also a wing of the Punjab government.

When asked why the horticultre land was chosen for construction even though sufficient area was available in the Officers’ Colony and more than eight acres of land attached to the Deputy Commissioner’s residence was available for construction of residential quarters, she retorted angrily that there was no harm in doing so.

Meanwhile, resentment prevails among the residents over the construction as Kamra Gardens, having rare imported trees planted by the erstwhile maharajas, are only one of the two gardens available to the residents.