Members of 13 Cooperative House Building Societies, who were allotted land for the construction of multi-storey flats in Mohali in 2004 but are still awaiting possession, are up in arms against the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

The allottees are angry over the reported move of the authority to enhance the allotment rates.

The development comes when the process of handing over the allotted land was in an advanced stage after five years of delay. The Joint Action Committee (JAC), representing the societies, has termed it a “dual” policy and “illogical” when the allotment of plots in Sectors 76 to 80 was recently made at the original allotment price of 2001.

In a joint statement issued on Monday, JAC leaders Jasveer Singh and Parmod Bansal said their case was alike allotments in Sectors 76 to 80, which were delayed without any fault of the buyers. “Instead, GMADA should pay us compensation for the delay and the hike in construction costs, which we will now have to incur,” they demanded.

The representatives of the societies met on Monday and termed the reported GMADA move “totally unjustified” and “against the basic principle of the cooperative movement”, which the present state government was claiming to revolutionise.

After freeing 34 acres of prime land in June last year from the illegal possession of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Sector 76, GMADA had decided to allot land to six of the total 13 approved cooperative societies.

The shortlisted societies were Dr Ambedkar Cooperative House Building Society (2.25 acres); Punjab State High Court Lawyers Cooperative House Building Society (2.4 acres); ACC Members Cooperative House Building Society (1.7 acres); Medical Veterinary and Paramedical Staff Cooperative House Building Society (0.55 acre); Aggarsen Cooperative House Building Society (1.14 acres); and Swastic RBI Staff Cooperative House Building Society (1.27 acres).