Deccan Chronicle 02.08.2013
200-member group to keep track of Chennai city illegal buildings
A building sealed by corportation officials.
Chennai: Taking
its cue from Ahmedabad , the city corporation plans to soon establish
a network of 200 authorised liaison officers to help people get town
planning permission for construction.
This
non-governmental group will also spy on illegal constructions and
advise people on deviations, if any, in building plans, according to
sources.
In a related development, Chennai
Mayor Saidai Duraisamy is set to inaugurate a building approval plan
which will ensure they are dispatched within a week of submission and
allow people to track the status of the applications.
In
a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Corporation will form a network of
200 authorised liaison officers to help the public avail of town
planning permission for building construction.
Besides
the regular corporation engineers’ surveillance, this non-governmental
group would also spy on illegal constructions and advise people when
there was a deviation in building plans at the time of construction.
They would pass their field details to Ripon Building.
This
system had helped to control unauthorised buildings in Ahmedabad and
this network would start its operations in the city shortly, a highly
placed source told this newspaper.
Building
regularisation schemes and ordinances passed in 1999 and 2007 have
allayed any fears that may have held builders back. Constructions
with building violations are now rampant.
The new
initiative by the Corporation would help to identify the buildings
with deviations at a much earlier stage and providing early counselling
to building owners would help reduce building violations, said a
Corporation engineer.
Meanwhile,
in a related development, Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraisamy will
inaugurate a building approval plan under the green channel procedure
whereby building approval plans will be dispatched within a week’s time
and the applicants can also track the status of their application and
know the Corporation’s reason for rejecting a plan.
Razing city illegal structures not easy
Chennai corporation officials are finding it difficult to handle the mushrooming illegal buildings in Chennai.
A
few field engineers attached to central and south Chennai told
this newspaper that political interventions from councillors and
MLAs in the city, are disrupting the drive against illegal structures.
“Not
all our engineers are corrupt, there are a few who want to take action
against illegal structures, but political intervention stops them,”
admitted a highly placed official.
Top brass in Ripon Buildings
have given instructions to abide by the High Court order and demolish
illegal structures, but local politicians flex muscle and go the extra
mile to protect illegal structures, the official added.
“Illegal
buildings are not new to Chennai and this trend started from Sowcarpet
during the early 90s. Now commercial buildings with major deviations are
visible across the city,” recalls former chief engineer of Chennai
corporation A. Swaminathan.
Political will and
periodical checks by field engineers alone can make Chennai breathe
easier with planned buildings. Though minor deviations in residential
buildings can be regularized, there has to be strict action against
illegal buildings constructed for commercial purposes, Swaminathan
added.
“Whenever a building violation is noticed, a
show cause notice is served under the town planning act, but there is
no further action. After several months the building is completed with
power supply and drainage connections,” rued A. Solomon, who has
filed a PIL against illegal buildings in Chennai.
“Despite
several court orders favouring the destruction of illegal buildings and
structures, civic authorities are silent over the issue in Injambakkam.
The encroachments are supported by local political functionaries; if
these are cleared, motorists and residents of at least four residential
areas in Injambakkam will benefit and have easy access to the ECR,” said
Sainath of Rajan Nagar and Selva Nagar residents welfare association.
