About 15 months ago the 29-member House of the Corporation approved a policy of removing all encroachments and enforcement staff launched not one but several drives in various sectors. However, for various reasons -- including the Lok Sabha election and political considerations -- the work was done in a piecemeal fashion.

The problem is acute in neighbourhoods of low-cost CHB-built houses in southern sectors. In these areas, it is commonly seen that allottees have grabbed open spaces between two blocks of flats. Allottees blame faulty architectural design for making encroachment "inevitable" and say that despite the fact that these neighbourhoods are densely populated, the design for parking and service areas around these dwellings resembles the design used for the northern sectors where houses occupy much bigger plots and tend to be single-storey.

"Inadequate parking space forces us to park vehicles in front of our houses; moreover, maintenance of open space is not a crime," argues Ram Avtar of Sector 45.

A few months ago, UT Administrator Lt Gen B. K. N. Chhibber, publicly urged a concerted operation involving the Chandigarh Housing Board, and enforcement staff of the UT Estate Office and Municipal Corporation. The Administrator took a serious view of the increasing number of encroachments, but little came of his call for action.

The situation is no better in the central part of the city, from sectors 29 to 38, where at some places, encroachments extend to the verge of the road, making movement difficult. The problem is particularly acute in the Sector 26 Grain Market, where the space is virtually free for all.

While the Corporation has had some success in clearing pavements of encroachments, hedges along V5, V4 and V3 roads are so common that people have even ceased to regard them as anything wrong. In Sector 47-D, some have grabbed land in front of their houses though electricity polls are set there, thus hindering maintenance work by Electricity Department crews. In Sector 47-C even reserve land belonging to the Administration has been encroached upon by residents who got the MC road wing staff to level it.

Hardly any municipal land is left in labour colonies and in the villages. Areas within the city are under the supervision of the Municipal Corporation while villages and labour colonies outside the city are being maintained by the Administration. With this confusion in work allocation, the problem becomes more acute.