Will LDA's 'Power Cut' Plan Put Lucknow Constructions In Order?

“There are no more power cuts in Lucknow. And, no, it is not because state Assembly elections are approaching. Things have generally improved in the past decade or so,” says Ritesh Ojha, a government school teacher who has lived in Lucknow or its peripheries for more than 30 years.

The Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) recently recommended that the Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (Lesa) and Jal Sansthan disconnect electricity and water supply to people who have built houses against maps or are operating commercial business out of their residential properties.

Ojha's assertion seems to put the LDA's idea into perspective: For a city that does not see major power cuts, punishing citizens by stopping the supply is likely to have the desired impact of curbing building plan violations and unauthorised use of premises.

The LDA also plans to name and shame these defaulters – key landmarks in Lucknow will have large hoardings with defaulters' names and details written on them. It is reported that the authority has already made a list of 60 major defaulters and will start displaying their names in a phased manner beginning next week.

The district administration is yet to decide whether the LDA can go ahead with this punishment method, but the proposed measures, if implement, may improve Lucknow's civic structure in several ways.

• Image building: Despite fond references to Lucknow's tahzeeb, the mouth-watering Awadhi cuisine and beautiful Chikan work, UP lives with its BIMARU tag. The common perception, especially in major metros, that UP is not yet safe and desirable to build a home in. Even as the real estate market in Lucknow has seen some late surge, there has been a bit of scepticism among outsiders. A strict move like the one proposed by the LDA, and compliance with it, should change things for the better. Since coming to power two years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has taken some strict measures to crack down on tax evaders, and they have yielded positive results so far.

• Investors' focus: When major real estate markets across the country started witnessing a slump, property markets in state capitals and Tier-II cities became investors' focus. In fact, the recent slump had very little impact on property market growth in such cities. For a city like Lucknow, which is growing at a handsome rate, putting in place measures to check unauthorised construction activities is crucial. For sustainable growth, it is imperative that constructions be done in a planned manner.