The Hindu 26.08.2009

Team to assess safety aspects in buildings

Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE: After the recent fire accident at the “Trade Centre”, a multi-storey building here, the Mangalore City Corporation has now planned to form a team to survey buildings in the city and check if all safety norms have been complied with. It will be asked to suggest ways of making building owners adhere to safety measures.

However, the Nagarika Hitarakshana Samiti, a voluntary organisation, termed the plan a “big joke”, an “eye-wash” and an “attempt at covering up” the failure of officials and builders in maintaining safety aspects in buildings.

Commissioner of the corporation K.N. Vijayaprakash told The Hindu that Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada V. Ponnuraj convened a meeting recently to discuss the future course of action in this regard. In addition to officials from the Mangalore Urban Development Authority, the city corporation, and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, a few builders and architects, participated in the meeting. Following this meeting, the civic body decided on forming a team to survey the buildings, he said.

The Commissioner said that the survey team would comprise architects and builders, in addition to officials. It would recommend to the corporation and the district administration steps to ensure that safety aspects were taken care of by the owners of high-rise buildings. It would help the corporation in framing a policy and prescribing safety aspects in buildings, he said.

The Commissioner did not, however, clarify on the deadline, if any, fixed for completing the survey and for implementing it.

G. Hanumantha Kamath, president of the samiti, wanted to know if there was a need to constitute such a team. “It is just an eye-wash to show the people that the district administration has initiated some steps to check the safety aspects in buildings following the recent fire mishap.”

“Officials and builders are hands-in-glove in these matters,” he alleged.

“The safety issue would not have surfaced now if builders had followed fire safety norms during construction,” he said.

Mr. Kamath suggested that now the corporation should identify those high-rise buildings which had not adopted fire safety measures. Later, it should issue notices to those owners and make them adopt safety measures within three months. While issuing fresh licenses, builders should be told to adopt safety measures compulsorily, he said.

The Hindu 26.08.2009

Corporation has no building bylaws

Raviprasad Kamila

MANGALORE: Although Mangalore is touted to be the fastest growing city after Bangalore, its city corporation is still working on having its own building bylaws.

The corporation’s criteria for issuing licenses for constructing buildings and completion certificates are based on the guidelines mentioned in the zonal regulations of the Mangalore Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

The MUDA prepared the zonal regulations according to its comprehensive development plan, which is now called the master plan, prepared in 1992 for ten years.

“Although the validity of the plan has expired, the corporation is still following the zonal regulation guidelines prepared by MUDA as the Government is yet to approve its new master plan,” town planning officer at the corporation Balakrishna Gowda told The Hindu.

The corporation was following the old guidelines, in accordance with the powers conferred on it under the provisions of Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, he said.

The corporation prepared the draft of building bylaws in 2007. But, as the new master plan of MUDA had not been approved, the Government had asked the corporation to wait till the master plan was approved.

The Government had asked the corporation to make necessary amendments in its draft bylaws after MUDA’s master plan was approved. Hence the corporation would have to send its bylaws again to the Government for approval after making necessary amendments, Mr. Gowda said.

Minister in-charge of Dakshina Kannada J. Krishna Palemar told The Hindu that the new master plan of the MUDA would be finalised at a meeting in Bangalore on Wednesday.

He said that he would also be attending it.

Justifying the Government’s decision of withholding the corporation’s draft building bylaws Mr. Palemar said that there should not be any contradictions in the guidelines of the corporations building bylaws and the new master plan of the MUDA.

If both the guidelines do not go together, people would face problems he said and added that the corporation should incorporate the amendments in its draft bylaws wherever necessary.

The Section 295 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 does suggest that the corporations should have building bylaws. It states: “With the approval of the Government the corporation may make bylaws… with provision of means of egress (exit) in case of fire…”

Fire safety

Mr. Gowda said that since 2005, the civic body was demanding two certificates from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services for issuing licenses for construction of high-rise buildings and completion certificates. Builders, who took up construction of buildings with four or more number of floors would have to produce “no objection certificates” from the department for obtaining license for construction from the corporation.

Once a building was completed, its builders had to produce another “no objection certificate” from the department to secure completion certificate from the civic body, he said.

‘Deemed safe’

Mr. Gowda said that once the department issued the second “no objection certificate” the corporation would deem that all norms pertaining to fire safety had been adhered to by the builders.

No checking

“We do not make any periodical checking to ensure if those buildings have been maintaining fire safety measures,” he said and added that it was better if the civic body had a fire safety officer, which the corporation was lacking now.

Referring to the fire in a high-rise building near Ambedkar Circle recently he said that the building was constructed in 1994-95.