Taking stringent action against illegal guest houses running in villages under the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation, the UT Administration has ordered closure of 123 guest houses running in the villages. During a hearing held on Monday, the UT Finance Secretary Sarvjit Singh turned down the appeal of the owners of guest houses filed against MCC closure notices. Notably, the owners of these guest houses were served with closure notice last month by MCC. These illegal guest houses were violating building bylaws and fire safety norms. The members of the Guest House Welfare Association had filed an appeal before the UT Finance Secretary against the MCC orders. Most of the guesthouses are in villages namely Kajheri, Burail, Attawa, Mani Majra, Maloya and Dadu Majra in the union territory of Chandigarh. The MCC had asked the owners to remove violations by December 3 or face sealing. As they had failed to comply with the directions, the MCC had written to the police and the Deputy Commissioner to provide them police force for the sealing drive of guest houses. After the appeal against MCC is turned down by the UT Administration, the UT would now decide the date for sealing drive. In the past one decade, several multi-storeyed buildings were constructed in the periphery and are being run as guest houses in violation of building bylaws.