Following severe backlash from various quarters over its failure to regulate the mushrooming illegal paying guest (PG) accommodations in the city, the Chandigarh Administration is now all set to introduce stringent provisions in the existing PG policy besides giving relaxations to make provisions for construction of hostels in schools and colleges.
The decisions were taken during the meeting of senior officers of UT Administration held under Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore here on Wednesday.
During the meeting, Badnore expressed concern on the loss of three innocent lives in the fire tragedy recently and asked the Administration to finalize the revised PG policy and present it to him at the earliest.
The Administration has decided that fire safety clearance and annual renewal of registration would be made mandatory for the PGs in the city.
The UT Administrator directed that the Police should also ensure regular inspections of the PGs.
It has also been decided to constitute an enforcement squad to conduct regular inspection of PGs across the city. Also, nodal officers would be appointed to keep check on unauthorized PG facilities in the city. Among various provisions of the existing PG policy, the Administration remains in a fix over the clause that makes it mandatory for the house owner to reside in the house. The Administration is likely to discuss this matter in the Administrator’s Advisory Council now.
UT Admn to approach Centre
With hostel facilities for students remaining almost non-existent in the city schools and colleges resulting in rampant growth of unauthorized PGs facilities, the UT Administration has decided to relax provisions for the construction of hostels in educational institutions here.
For this, the Administration will write to the Centre for decreasing the high charges for additional FAR in educational institutions
Under its policy, the Administration had allowed educational institutions to opt for an increase in FAR for additional construction on their premises. The policy allowed for the construction of hostels by availing an additional FAR from 0.5 to 0.75. The charges were notified and fixed at Rs 3,400 per square feet last year.
“The Administration will write to the Centre seeking permission to make changes in the FAR policy for educational institutions and to ensure nominal charges for increase in FAR. This would ensure construction of hostels in schools and colleges here,” said UT Adviser Manoj Parida while talking to The Pioneer.
He said that there is a growing demand for more hostels facilities here. Apart from this, the Administration has decided to revise the exiting PG policy. The final draft will be put forth the UT Administrator soon for approval, he said.
It has also been decided to constitute a dedicated enforcement squad to conduct inspections of PGs, he added.
47 more illegal PGs found
D e ongoing inspection drive, the UT Estate office has issued notices to 47 illegal PGs.
While notices have been issued to 47 more illegal PGs, 29 complaints were received at the helpline for reporting illegal PGs, said a senior UT officer.
The officer said that 12 more unauthorized PG accommodations have themselves closed their facility. A day before, six illegal PGs had closed their facility
Among 29 complaints reported on the helpline, 12 were received from south sub-division, seven from central and 10 from east sub-division of the city.
A help desk have been set up to facilitate the registration of PGs at the reception of UT Estate office in Sector 17 here. For registration, the applicant must ensure that they fulfill all the conditions as per the existing policy. Three applications were received till now, the officer added.
Notably, a fire tragedy at the Sector 32 two-storey PG accommodation on Saturday had led to the death of three young girls while two others had suffered injuries. The deceased were Muskan Mehta, Riya Arora and Pakshi Grover, all aged between 19 and 21 years.