Illegal commercial establishments, banquet halls mushroom near ammunition dump

A number of marriage palaces and commercial establishments have illegally mushroomed around the sensitive ammunition dump on the Amritsar-Attari bypass road near Vallah village here. During the Indo-Pak conflict, people from some quarters sought a reply regarding the presence of these establishments in the sensitive area from the local administration and the Municipal Town Planning (MTP) wing. On the complaint of Army officers at the ammunition dump, the MTP wing took action against the violators on the Sabji Mandi side, but it ignored the marriage places and other commercial establishments on the main bypass road.

As per the Works of Defence Act, 1903, the construction or any other commercial activity is restricted within 1,000 yards of the ammunition dump.

Though on February 23, 2019, the MTP wing of the MC sealed four marriage palaces, including Utsav Forest Resort, Lily Resort, Grand Celebration and Western Villa, alleged to be constructed in violation of rules near the ammunition dump, these marriage palaces broke open the seals and filed lawsuits. Now all the marriage places are functioning. The MC took action as a major fire had broken out in one of the palaces, located a few yards away from the ammunition dump. However, the authorities concerned never take action after that.

Municipal Town Planner Narinder Sharma said, “One of the marriage palaces has been regularised in 2019 as it existed before the notification issued for the dump under Work Of Defiance Act. Two other marriage places located on the opposite side of the road filed a lawsuit and the case is sub judice. We don’t allow any other constructions in the area and raze illegal structures. The MTP wing does not approve of any building plan in the area.”

The ammunition dump is spread over an area of 120 acres. It is divided into two parts, old and new ammunition dumps. The land of old ammunition dump, measuring 66 acres and 2 kanals was requisitioned in 1966 and

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acquired in 1971. These were notified vide Gazette Notification of Punjab dated March 20, 1970 and February 19, 1972, respectively. At present, no construction or habitation is allowed within 1,000 yards of the dump.

Earlier, former MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu had made efforts to shift the dump and a BJP candidate from the East constituency met senior Army officers to reduce the area under the no-activity zone from 1,000 yards to 350 yards in 2022. However, no development reported in this regard.

Amritsar