Mohali house owners want lower compounding fee

Mohali, September 19

Even as the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has proposed to allow residents of built-up houses construction on 75 per cent of the back courtyard for a store/room with toilet, allottees have demanded that the compounding fee proposed for the additional construction should be reduced.

The Need-Based Changes Committee of GMADA had proposed various changes after visiting different areas of Mohali and meeting representatives of welfare associations. It had asked for suggestions from the residents of built-up houses and in the commercial areas through a public notice, giving them 15 days’ time, which ended on September 13.

It is learnt that GMADA received responses from nearly 30 persons. Most of them asked for measures which GMADA was reluctant to provide.

GMADA had proposed a height of 9 ft for construction in the rear courtyard so that light and ventilation in the adjoining room were not affected. However, residents demanded that an additional height of 9 inches should be allowed so that the construction reached the roof level.

The owners of HM houses were earlier allowed only the ground floor plus the first floor. Allottees had been demanding permission to construct the second floor as well. GMADA has allowed this in its proposals, subject to the structural stability of the building and on the payment of Rs 200 per sq ft of the covered area as well as the consent of the adjoining owners. Allottees, however, have demanded that the compounding fee should be cut from Rs 200 per sq ft to Rs 50 per sq ft, as was the case in “marla houses”.

Various changes had been proposed by the committee for built-up houses in Sectors 55, 57, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 70 and 71 and various SCOs, SCFs, SSS and booths in Mohali.

According to the proposals of the committee, construction of the basement under the front corridor in the commercial areas was to be allowed only for storage purposes, subject to structural stability and on the payment of Rs 2,200 per sq ft of the covered area. Construction of 100 per cent of the basement was proposed under the rear courtyard but only for storage purposes. The rear courtyard on the ground floor could also be covered up to 75 per cent for storage purposes at a compounding fee of Rs 3,550 per sq ft of the covered area.