COIMBATORE: If city corporation officials are to be believed, a
majority of the illegal buildings and structures in the city have done a
vanishing act in the past one year. The outcome is that the
long-winding list of illegal structures
compiled by the civic body last year has shrunk drastically. Now, less
than 60 structures in the city appear to have been erected in violation
of building norms and regulations.

When the city corporation
launched a lock-and-seal operation just ahead of the assembly election
last year, more than 1,000 buildings with violations were identified and
notices were issued to more than 600 such structures. But corporation
officials now have restricted their focus to just 57 buildings, which
are likely to be served notice. “We have compiled a list of buildings in
our limits erected in violation of government-approved norms. There are
about 57 such structures in the corporation limits,” said TK Ponnusamy,
commissioner, Coimbatore Municipal Corporation.

The corporation officials claimed that they were focussing on buildings
with gross violations and also those that are not leaving adequate
parking space forcing people to occupy space on the public roads outside
these buildings. The city traffic police have also planned to take up
the issue of lack of parking space inside commercial buildings.

“Our main priority are illegal commercial structures and that too the
recent ones that have been either completed or in various stages of
construction turning a blind eye to the construction,” said a senior
official in the town planning wing of the corporation.

The ‘new
list’ of illegal buildings compiled by the corporation includes a few
multi-storied structures on Dr Nanjappa Road and R S Puram labelled as
‘gross violations’. The last time the civic body initiated action
against illegal structures in its limits was in the first three weeks of
April, 2011. More than a 1,000 buildings were blacklisted and notices
issued to about 600 of them. Many of these were on Cross Cut Road, Big
Bazaar Street, Oppanakara Street and other areas in the city. Water
supply was also disconnected to some of these structures.

The
corporation has powers to give sanction for commercial buildings less
than 2,000 square feet area with ground plus one floor and residential
structures with coverage up to 4,000 square feet. Any structure, both
commercial and residential exceeding these limits, is approved from the
Local Planning Authority. However, when it comes to acting against violations, the city corporation has enforcement powers.

The corporation officials also claimed that the action against the
structures will be taken only after consulting with the Local Planning
Authority. Chennai Municipal corporation’s attempts to take stern action
against illegal structures in the recent times have ended in a legal
battle, with many building owners approaching the courts for reprieve.
“The government is likely to issue an order to regularise buildings
constructed before 2007, after August 15,” a corporation official
claimed.

Coimbatore corporation is also facing a staff crunch in
the town planning wing and the often deputes its sanitary and
conservation workers to carry out action against illegal buildings.