ABBOTTABAD, Oct 27: A row between the provincial government and the tehsil municipal administration over the ownership of a piece of land entered a crucial stage as the TMA in an advertisement on Sunday advised the general public not to take part in the open bidding for the sale of the old GTS stand.

The auction of the GTS stand was announced by the provincial privatization commission, which had also approached the local government to settle the dispute.

However, an MPA-elect from Abbottabad, Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, former provincial minister Shamroz Khan Jadoon, Town Nazim Javed Khan and a large number of people have asked the government to stop the auction as it belongs to the former Municipal Committee and the local people have the right to decide about its future.

The GTS bus stand had been abandoned since 1995 after the GTS was abolished. The land was in possession of Municipal Committee Abbottabad, while the building was used by army units and recently by returning officers as an election camp.

The provincial government asked the MC to pay compensation for the building which during the tenure of Aftab Sherpao as provincial chief minister was calculated at around Rs9.9 million. However, the MC refused to pay compensation, terming it illegal.