The Indian Express 10.04.2013
After Thane incident, PCMC to raze ‘dangerous’ illegal buildings
In the wake of Thane building collapse, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal
Corporation (PCMC) has decided to demolish dangerous illegal
multi-storeyed buildings on priority basis. The orders were issued by
Municipal Commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi on Tuesday.
“We will assess the number of such properties in town,” said
Pardeshi. The civic chief has decided to come hard on such buildings
after the Thane building collapse. The state government has directed the
civic bodies to identify such buildings and take suitable action
against them, civic officials said.
PCMC will target as many as 2,575 illegal buildings that came up
after April 1, 2012. “Of the 2,575 illegal buildings, as many as 225
have already been demolished and first information report against 860
persons has been filed,” he said.
Pardeshi said PCMC has started putting up details of illegal
buildings on its websites. “This will spread awareness among people and
ensure they do not buy such properties,” he said. He said the civic
body has also started issuing notices to recover the cost of demolishing
illegal structures. This is being done as per the state government’s
directives, he added.
The civic chief said his administration will also conduct a
structural audit of buildings to find out whether they met stipulated
norms like fire safety standards and others while setting up structures.
On Monday, Pardeshi had taken action against civic staff in
connection to a slab collapse two weeks ago in Udyognagar area of
Chinchwad. As many as eight labourers were injured in the incident.
While junior engineer Sudarshan Wahikar was suspended and a
departmental probe ordered against him, city engineer M T Kamble was
issued a warning. He also cancelled the salary increment of deputy
engineer Sanjay Kamble and added a ‘note’ in the service records of
executive engineer Makarand Nikam. The administration had earlier sought
explanation from Kamble and Nikam and had issued showcause notices to
deputy engineer Sanjay Kamble and junior engineer Sudarshan Wahikar.
As many 40 junior engineers had protestested following action against
Wahikar. They said Wahikar had taken photographs of the unauthorised
construction and that the further action against the structure should
have been taken by his seniors. Uday Tekale, assistant commissioner and
chief of administration department, said he has forwarded the complaint
to the civic chief.
Rickshaw panchyat to skip bandh
The two-day autorickshaw bandh starting April 15 by various
rickshaw unions in protest against compulsory electronic meters has been
opposed by the Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchyat. In a signed press
release, president of the Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchyat Baba Kamble
stated that they would run rickshaws during the strike.
Kamble stated that rickshaw bandhs caused inconvenience to the
public and created a bad image about rickshaw drivers. They stated that
issues cannot be solved by bandhs and dialogue is the only way.
The deadline for installation of electronic meters set by the district transport authority is April 30.
