India, Sept. 4 -- LUCKNOW Illegal occupants, and not original allottees, reside in 70% of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation's properties across the city. The bulk of these 2,000 residential and commercial properties - located in high-value zones like Gurunanak Market, Riverbank Colony, Lalbagh, Hazratganj, Aminabad, and Charbagh - are occupied by third-party tenants who either reside or run businesses on these premises without legal transfer of tenancy rights, reveals an internal report of the civic body.

After years of failed eviction drives, legal entanglements and deteriorating infrastructure, the LMC's internal committee has recommended a two-pronged solution:

Tenancy transfer scheme - allow existing occupants to regularise their st...