Lucknow, Oct 21 (PTI) The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday expressed serious concerns over illegal constructions that have come up in the state capital allegedly in connivance of some Lucknow Development Authority officials.

The bench directed the LDA to furnish a list of such officials who maintain calculated silence and turn a blind eye when illegal constructions come up. It further directed the authority to submit an action-taken report against the erring officials.

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A bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Jaspreet Singh passed the order on a PIL moved by Lieutenant Colonel Ashok Kumar (retired) 10 years ago. The PIL had raised the issue of illegal construction in the city and had also blamed LDA officials for it.

The PIL also stated that no action is ever taken against erring officials, and hence, they keep on conniving with builders, without any fear.

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In 2012, in the course of hearing of the PIL, the LDA had apprised the bench that action was being taken against officials who failed to check illegal construction in their areas.

On Friday, the bench found that till date, the LDA had not put forth any action-taken report.

In its order, the bench observed, "It is the duty of the officers of LDA to monitor the constructions being raised even after the plans are approved to ensure that the construction is being raised in terms of the sanctioned plan. Their duty is also to ensure that no illegal construction is raised."

The bench has fixed November 9 as the next date of hearing.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)