Mohali community centres out of bounds for public

MOHALI: Almost six months ago, the Punjab and Haryana high court had directed the district administration and Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to vacate the community centres by June 15. Despite that deadline almost over, officials seem to be in no mood to provide over 3.20 lakh residents of Mohali what is rightly theirs.
The result of this indifferent attitude is that residents have to shell out sizeable amounts to book marriage palaces and wedding halls for holding personal functions.
The community centres in Phase VI and Sector 71 are being used as police stations by district police and the one in Phase XI is being used as police lines. The community centre in Phase 3B1 is being used as Mohali district courts. The Habitat Centre in Phase X is being used by another department of the police and the common public has not had access to the building for even a single day since its opening.
Even after five years since Mohali got the status of a district, the administration and police heads continue to operate from GMADA showrooms located in Phase I and no new sites have been finalized for District Administrative Complex (DAC).
GMADA officials said sites for various district administration and police offices had been finalized and part-payment had also been released for the same.
However, they declined to comment on any deadline for the officials to move out.
They stated that though the time frame of six months given by HC was to formulate relocation plans and submit them to the court, the actual shifting would take much longer.
Speaking to TOI, Mohali deputy commissioner Varun Roojam said, ''We have been re-issued the expression of interest for the new site for DAC in Sector 76. The earlier one had lapsed as we had not paid the amount required. We would look at getting this done within the stipulated time frame.''
Former municipal councillor Kuljeet Singh Bedi, who took GMADA and district administration to court over the issue, said, ''Since the terrorism days in early '80s, some of the district police stations and commando training centres have been shifted to community centres in an effort to be closer to the public. However, those times are long gone but the police are still occupying the centres and have not relinquished control of the buildings that are meant for public use.''