The non-assessment of value of illegal buildings in the city has
proved costly for the Corporation. The civic body, severely hit by
financial crunch, is likely to incur a loss of about Rs 15 crore to Rs
20 crore.
In a recent inspection conducted by the Revenue
Department of the Kochi Corporation, the authorities identified nearly
15,000 illegal structures in the city.
The violations were mainly
in the form of additions to the existing buildings, without obtaining
necessary sanction from the civic body.
Apart from extensions, some have even converted the parking areas into commercial spaces.
As per the rule, the buildings that were identified as illegal structures should be regularised within six months.
The
squad which carried out the inspection submitted its report in
February 2013 but the authorities are yet to take steps for serving
notices to the owners of the illegal structures.
According to the
Opposition of the Kochi Corporation, the Finance Standing Committee is
trying to protect the vested interests of some building owners. “We have
raised some serious issues regarding building rule violations by some
persons in the past. But neither the Mayor nor his team has bothered to
consider our demand for an inquiry,” said Opposition councillor C A
Shakkeer. He alleged that the apathy of the ruling front to the issue
was evident from the way they have eluded from taking action against the
unauthorised buildings and from collecting the penal amount from the
violators.
Meanwhile, a top Corporation official said that the
decision of the state government to scrap the tax revision plan was the
major reason for the delay in assessing the value of the buildings.
“We
have started the numbering process and have issued self-assessment
taxation forms to various households after the government announced its
plan for a tax revision.”
The tax will be assessed on the basis of
Floor Area Ration (FAR) and we have completed the formalities.
Meanwhile, the state had reconsidered its decision and we had to leave
the whole process halfway through,” he said.
However, the
Opposition said that the authorities could have collected the fine, that
is threefold of the normal tax, from the violators or at least could
have served notices to them.
