Residents of 79 apartments in a building in Tiruvanmiyur are in a
state of shock after the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
(CMDA) served them a ‘locking and sealing & demolition notice’, as
the builder had reportedly failed to pay an infrastructure development
and amenities fees of `44 lakh to the agency. Residents of Ramaneeyam
Samarpann Apartments in Thiruvanmiyur told Express that on November 27,
2013, the CMDA officials pasted a demolition notice, besides handing out
the notice to the secretary, to be circulated among the residents. The
residents said that the builder, besides failing to pay the
infrastructure and amenities charges, also constructed two dwelling
units illegally. “He kept us in dark about the whole thing,” said a
resident on condition of anonymity.

The residents felt that the
CMDA’s action against them in issuing the notice was unfair. “They
should have taken action against the builder. How do we know that he has
not paid the infrastructure and amenities charges?” asked a resident.

According
to the notice, the builder obtained the approval in 2008 for 77
dwelling units. He had also applied for completion certificate in 2010.
However, instead of remitting the infrastructure and amentities charges,
he had gone for a court order dated June 2010, without insisting on a
completion certificate from CMDA. But this does not absolve him from
paying the infrastructure and amenities charges. After several
reminders, including the one in 2010, the lock and seal and demolition
notice had been issued.

“The builder has not paid infrastructure
and amenities charges. The residents have given a reply in writing to
the lock and seal notice. We are going through it,” said a senior CMDA
official. The builder was not available for comments.

Also, this
is not an isolated case. Since 2007, several builders, to avoid paying
infrastructure and amenities charges, have gone to court to obtain water
and power connections without insisting on a completion certificate
from CMDA, said sources. Also, the sub-committee of the monitoring
committee in CMDA had already identified such erring builders.

M G
Deivasahayam, managing trustee of the Chennai-based Citizens Alliance
for Sustainable Living (SUSTAIN) and a member of the Monitoring
Committee, said that the file in this regard was still awaiting
clearance, thus putting many buyers of flats at risk. “The monitoring
committee is not being allowed to perform its duties,” he said. The
committee had suggested that the habitual violators needed to be
identified and security deposit be collected as multiple of the security
deposit normally collectable while issuing planning permission.

The
CMDA is yet to take action against the officials in connection with
expiry of bank guarantees worth more than `3.77 crore, after the
government sought an ‘Action Taken Report’ on the audit reports starting
from 2006 to 2009-10, that highlighted the lapses.

Sources said
that the government was losing several crore of rupees due to
non-collection of infrastructure and amenties charges and lapse of bank
guarantees towards remittance of security deposit to get planning
permission. The CMDA issues ‘locking and sealing & demolition
notices’ to builders who flout norms.