HIDCO notices to owners of plots who have not begun construction yet

Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) has issued notices to the owners of plots who are yet to resume construction at their sites.

Notices will be issued to around 200 plot owners. The plots are situated in Action Area II. Earlier, notices had been issued to 200 plot

owners of Action Area I. The plots were allotted to them before 2011. HIDCO will take legal action against plot owners who will not reply to the notices.

In December 2016, HIDCO had organised a meeting with the plot owners who have not yet started construction. HIDCO officials gave every assurance to them and requested them to submit their building plans. Accordingly, some plot owners submitted building plans to New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA).

But many plot owners refused to take any action. Debashis Sen, chairman of HIDCO said around 200 notices would be issued to the owners of plots situated in Action Area II.

Legal action would be taken against owners who fail to reply. There is a provision to take back the plots that have remained unused. It may be mentioned that in Salt Lake there are some plots which have not been used till date though they were allotted decades ago.

The plots in New Town that have remained unused were allotted to the owners during the Left Front regime. There had been allegations of nepotism over distribution of plots and misuse of the chairman's quota. Many plots had been distributed by the then chairman Gautam Deb, housing minister of the erstwhile state government without proper advertisements. Nobody knows at what price the plots had been sold.

After coming to power in 2011, Mamata Banerjee abolished the chairman's

quota and appointed

Debashis Sen, a senior IAS officer as the chairman of HIDCO breaking the usual practice that political persons are usually made chairmen of corporations.

Recently, lotteries were held to distribute 75 plots in New Town. Earlier, lottery was held to distribute flats.

Debashis Sen said there was absolute transparency in conducting the lottery.

The money of the applicants who failed to crack the lottery will be returned within one month.